Latest / This Is My Journey | The GLP-1 Podcast / S2 E6: Transforming James – Losing 8 Stone, Reversing Pre-Diabetes & Starting Again (with James Taylor)

Transcript

S2 E6: Transforming James – Losing 8 Stone, Reversing Pre-Diabetes & Starting Again (with James Taylor) · This Is My Journey | The GLP-1 Podcast

• 0:00
  Before someone starts a weight loss journey, there's often a lot going on beneath the surface. So shame, skepticism, self-doubt, and that constant promise of I'll start on Monday. So today's episode is all about breaking through that mindset. What happens when someone who never thought they'd take this medication decides to try a GLP-1? So, you know, what changes when that clarity replaces food noise? And what becomes possible when confidence starts to build? So, you know, what happens when that clarity replaces food noise?
• 0:29
  This is a real story and one I know many of you will relate to, so let's get into it and I'll introduce you to today's guest who has changed his life through GLP-1. Welcome to This Is My Journey, the podcast where real people share real stories of transformation, resilience and growth. I'm Mark and after navigating my own path through major lifestyle change, I created this space to open up
• 0:58
  mindset and what it really takes to evolve. So along the way we'll also hear from professionals you know from pharmacists to psychologists and fitness experts who help us make sense of the science and support behind these journeys. So whether you're just starting out deep in the process or you're finding your footing after big change you are not alone. This is your place, this is my journey, let's walk it together.
• 1:26
  Welcome back everyone. And today I'm joined by James Taylor, who started his GLP one journey on the 31st of March, 2025. So little under a year ago and has since lost just over eight stone. So James began his journey feeling deeply skeptical about GLP ones, like a lot of people, and carrying a lot of shame around his weight and stuck in a familiar cycle.
• 1:50
  to everybody of wanting to do it naturally and always planning to start on Monday. I know I always been like that. So through connecting with others on similar journeys, seeing real stories shared online, he decided to take a very different approach. Since then, James has not only transformed physically, but has reversed his pre-diabetes, lowered his blood pressure and gained the clarity and confidence to build sustainable habits, including changing his diet, starting to run and going to the gym. So James,
• 2:16
  This episode is all about mindset shifts, confidence, and what can happen when that fog lifts and you finally feel able to move forward. So James, thank you so much for joining me on today's episode. Thank you so much. I'm really excited to be here. So to start, maybe you can take us back to where you were before March 31st and really how you were feeling about your weight and just your health really at that point.
• 2:38
  I think by the time I got to 31st of March, I felt the lowest about myself that I ever have. You know, I was a 5XL enclosed, 52-inch waist trousers. I used to manage in a clothes shop, and yet I couldn't shop in clothes shops anymore. I was having to buy stuff online. I was abreast in basic tasks, like getting dressed was difficult, walking upstairs. It was just, it felt like I've got this massive sort of,
• 3:02
  It was like rubber ring around myself. It was this big sort of separation to everybody. On a health note, I was pretty diabetic. I got high blood pressure, but I was really irresponsible. I didn't do anything about it. I just sort of ran away from the problem thinking that it would just go away, being really naive about it. And whilst I felt like there was no way out, I'd always then go, I'll start again on Monday. I'll change my life on Monday morning. It will be different next week. I'll just have this one more weekend of enjoying too much food or...
• 3:31
  just not looking after myself in the way that I now do. And it just, it was a cycle that repeated itself. I can't even count on, you know, to see how many Mondays there were, where this is going to be the Monday that I'll change everything. And it probably lasts until about 1pm on Monday, and I go, oh, I'll start again next week. And it just, it was a most torturous cycle of repeating those bad habits.
• 3:52
  So yeah, I know, honestly, there'd be so many people there that can relate to that story that you've just said. And I think, you know, for anyone that's listening, I know me as well, just even listening to what you were saying there completely resonates with me and how I was feeling. So yeah, that real, you know, do it naturally approach. And, you know, that starting Monday, I've had that constantly. And that mindset, I suppose, is something that so many people recognize. So how long did you feel stuck in that cycle?
• 4:21
  I think I sort of became very aware of my weight and my body image around the age of 16. And I think that's such an impressionable age. I think, you know, social media was just kicking off. Instagram was becoming a thing. I'd just come out as gay. And, you know, I really sort of felt like I had to look a certain way or be a certain way to fit in with the community, which is absolutely not the case. It's just the sort of internalized view that I had of myself.
• 4:43
  And so, you know, I wasn't massively overweight at 16, but I thought I was the biggest person in the world. And so, you know, I decided to do a very low calorie diet, very irresponsibly, not safely, didn't do it with any medical sort of guidance. And I lost a lot of weight, but I think it really damaged my relationship with what food, nutrition, exercise was. Yeah.
• 5:03
  I did that for about a year. It wasn't good for me. And then pretty much when I went off to university at 18, you know, university is not the place where you can always put your health first. But, you know, I sort of had real phases when I was at uni of, you know, I'd try and eat really well, be really responsible. And then it just wouldn't last forever.
• 5:22
  When I left uni and started my first job, I, throughout my time at sixth form and then at uni, I was in a retail job. So I was doing three or five shifts a week where I would be on my feet all the time doing 15,000 steps and, you know, generally managed to maintain my weight quite well. When I went into a job where I was predominantly sitting at a desk all day,
• 5:40
  Suddenly that sort of exercise that I was doing had disappeared, but the food habits hadn't changed. And, you know, it started very gradually where, you know, you'd eat a little bit more and you'd have that extra portion, that extra side here or there, or you'd get the next size pizza, you know, and things like that. And I sort of got trapped in that cycle very easily. I also started and do a job where I traveled in the car a lot. And so I'd be going for convenience foods, drive-thrus, meal deals, you name it.
• 6:06
  Anyway, whenever I became aware of the fact that I was getting overweight, you know, I signed up to the gym several times, would go once, wouldn't go again. I tried shakes. I tried swimming. There were all different things I tried, but I would try these things in isolation and never do them together. So I'd either do dieting or exercise. It never came together. Yeah. But the amount of Mondays that I go, I'm going to start the gym. I'm going to eat better. And it's going to all happen on this Monday. Yeah.
• 6:29
  And I could never stick to it because it felt like I'd basically taken all the habits that I'd got and just thrown them to the wall and suddenly had to live in this way that felt like I was restricting myself. And it just wasn't sustainable for me. No, I think there's so many people there that will...
• 6:42
  again resonate with all of that, you know, even from the jobs aspect, you know, even for me, like listening to you, you know, that it's, it's cycles that a lot of us experience. So there'll be a lot of people that will relate to that. I suppose you've spoken quite skeptically in the past, maybe about GLP ones, you know, I suppose at the very beginning, what were your biggest concerns or doubts, you know, before you actually started?
• 7:05
  Being very honest with you, because I'd been in that sort of Monday cycle for nearly coming up to 10 years by the time I started my journey,
• 7:13
  I always believed that that was the only way that I could lose weight and be the person I wanted to be. And then particularly when you start to see reports in gossip columns and Instagram and things like that of celebrities that do or use GLP ones, I sort of became the opinion that, oh, well, it must be the very, it's the easy way out for you. You know, it's the privilege of you can pay for it. Therefore, you must be, you know, you must have just not got the willpower, but because you've got the money, you can do these sorts of things.
• 7:39
  And I sort of carried that view for about a year or so before I actually started my journey. You know, the amount of times you'd see someone who had been sort of changing and transforming their life. But it was very simple for me to go, oh, well, you know, look at another celebrity that's cheated. It really sort of cemented that belief in me because, again, I always believed that on Monday I was going to wake up and change my life forever, do it naturally. And I'd be so much better than the people who were on a GLP one. Yeah. And yeah.
• 8:06
  It's absolutely not the case. At the end of the day, we're all individuals. We're all people who have got our individual health needs and things like that. And there are people that can lose the weight naturally. And there are people that use the GLP-1. And there shouldn't be a distinguishing thing between both of those groups of people. It's just the fact that I thought I belonged to the natural. And I don't even like using the phrase natural weight loss. Because that's not...
• 8:29
  Again, we're creating one group of people versus another, and that's not the case. But I always believe that that's the way that I do it. And therefore, well, you know, I'm not going to take the cheaters way out, am I? I suppose for a lot of people, a lot of people will have that attitude to you at the very, very start. And they are very skeptical. And I think I think what's always really important to remember in these instances is, and I think for anybody that's listening that maybe is considering or hasn't started yet, but is about to start, you know,
• 8:54
  ultimately you're not a failure you know you're not you know it's it's not taken that easy way out because for a lot of us you know we have struggled with our weight our whole lives and it's not just something that's maybe happened in the last year or something like that so i think for anybody that is choosing to take this sort of medical route i think it can be for somebody as definitely that's clinically obese and you know i know i was you know i don't know whether you would have had a bmi of 49 yeah um you know i was in as i said five excel size clothes
• 9:24
  My asthma that I have got significantly worse. I was out of breath doing basic things. And I probably could have gone down, say, a bariatric route. But again, I was living in the denial of Monday changing everything. And it sort of stopped my ability to decide to do something else. Yeah.
• 9:42
  Was there ever like conversation or, you know, a moment or realization that really helped you overcome that resistance to starting on a JLP one? So I saw someone and I can even give you the timeline for it. I saw someone in December 2024 that I hadn't seen for a few months.
• 10:02
  And I knew that this person had struggled with their weight for a very long time. And it appeared to me that they had lost weight. And I wasn't really sure how to approach it. I think that's something that, again, I'm still learning now is, you know, how do you approach someone who is on a weight loss journey? But I said to him, can I ask, have you lost weight? Because, you know, you look really happy. You know, you look different. And they said, oh, yeah, I have been. I subsequently found out that person had been on the GLB-1 journey. And rather than just be supportive, privately, I thought to myself, yeah.
• 10:30
  well, you know, look, there's another person whose willpower has failed. Good for you. You know, I'm going to be better than you, however, when I start my Monday journey. And yeah.
• 10:42
  Then a couple of months had passed and I'd start to know a few people who were on it. And I then knew someone even closer to me who was considering starting a journey. And I remember sort of feeling quite panicked that person was going on it. And so I ended up going to work and I spoke to my manager. We're really good friends. And I said, you won't believe it. This person I know is going a GLP-1 journey. You know, I feel so worried that they're going on these medications that I've never heard anything about or done any research on.
• 11:12
  you know and they've taken the easy way out my manager sat back and she went well i'm on them and i sort of looked at her like she'd sprouted like two heads or something i was like oh right okay and then she said and you know someone else they're on a glp one journey and i said oh so like it's okay then like it's all right and and we discussed and their experience with it and i kind of thought to myself i shouldn't be so proud and and
• 11:41
  you know, in judge sheet, in judge sheet is probably not the right word, but like, I didn't want to, why am I looking down on this thing that is evidently helping several people that I know? Yeah. And I think because it, I mean, whereas you can look at celebrities that are on it who you just consume through Instagram or TV or whatever and go, well, I don't know you. When it comes to your sort of personal life and you know, and you see people that you know who are on that journey and you go, they're okay. Like this seems to be working for them. I just thought to myself, I'm,
• 12:08
  What I'll do is I'll just try a month. I'll just, I'll pay for a month's worth of medication and I'll see what happens. And I tried it and I lost a stone within the first month and I couldn't believe it because it started, it suddenly felt like I'd unlocked this sort of chain that was around myself of the mundane mindset that was gone. Yeah.
• 12:30
  because something else was working and it felt really surreal to me and i still speak to this you know i don't work for this manager anymore but i speak to her probably most days and i'm still so thankful for that one interaction that very nearly didn't happen and i wouldn't have started this journey
• 12:46
  I suppose the other good thing to say, and you know, this is how you and I connected with one another is I haven't heard from people in my personal life. I did then want to go online and see other people's experiences. And I found your TikTok page and I found a few other creators and I had actually got to bed on night at 10 o'clock to sit and watch through some of these videos. And I didn't go to bed until about two in the morning because I was,
• 13:08
  only different videos of watching you know people including yourself go through this sort of transformation and I could see not just sort of you were physically changing but your like mental sort of mindset I guess it sort of lifted and it was lighter and that was so inspirational and that's what sort of cemented it for me really. Yeah I think there's a lot around and it's so funny like hearing what you're saying there and and I suppose with me a lot of it
• 13:34
  Like I do remember, and I, you know, you get comments now that, you know, just you saying that feeling lighter and stuff, you know, people who maybe have watched, you know, videos of mine from the very, very start. And then they'll watch ones now and they're like, you're like a completely different person, but not just physically. Like you're so much lighter in terms of how you speak and how you, you know, you're not so much of like a very like monotone, like slow, like, you know, just like, you know, you're a lot more upbeat, more positive and more, you know, all this.
• 14:02
  And I think, you know, as well, you're saying about, you know, how, you know, your initial resistance to it. I think a lot of that comes from fear as well of, you know, maybe not wanting and almost guilt as well. Like, no, because I know that's how I felt like, you know, I don't want to turn to this, this, this route because why should I need to go down that route? But actually for a lot of people, I think.
• 14:23
  You know, a lot of people don't understand the genetics involved in like obesity and stuff. And I think that is such a massive part. That's where this like medication is so like life changing for you and for me.
• 14:33
  I think if there's one thing I can say is people make the assumption that if you're on a GLP on journey, you're just doing that. Yeah. And it's so much more than that. You know, it gives you a mental clarity to do other things. So, you know, doing, you know, some people do this, you know, calorie counting, you know, exercising, there's things that it sort of unlocks for you. And it's not just that. It's so much more than that as a tool, really. You know, it shouldn't be seen as the entire toolbox. It's a tool within the toolbox. Yeah, yeah.
• 15:03
  what were them sort of first changes that you really noticed in yourself, you know, you know, mentally as well as physically?
• 15:09
  There's always the obvious changes. There's always the clothes, trying on smaller clothes, being able to go back into clothes shops and try things on, having more energy throughout the day. I actually found that my sleep improved significantly as well, my sleep quality. But really, I think the biggest thing to me in terms of the mental changes were firstly how you view yourself, the confidence, having the ability to, and it sounds probably really silly to some people, but the ability to stand in front of a camera and want a picture taken off you again. Yeah.
• 15:36
  I looked through my camera on my phone from about 2022 to this year. And there were so many pictures of where I had been, but not pictures of me there. You know, I didn't like photos of myself. I probably had one photo of my partner and I.
• 15:52
  And we've been together for nearly six years, you know, half of our relationship probably isn't on camera because I didn't want it on camera. I didn't want to look at myself and be confronted with that sort of reality. The amount of times I'd had photos taken myself, you get the phone back and go, ooh, that's not how I feel I look. But clearly that's what the camera's caught. But there's also, when I talk about sort of the mental changes in myself, there's little things that your brain over the years, you know, when you're a bigger person...
• 16:15
  you sort of automatically sort of adopt habits. So it's still things like sitting on certain chairs, you know, is this chair going to support my weight? Am I going to get up the stairs? Do I really have to walk there, for example? You know, can I get a taxi or something? There's just little things like that that are in my mind.
• 16:31
  When it came to food, for example, when you're at home and you're not being watched by other people, I did have some really dangerous is probably quite an extreme word for it, but eating habits that because I wasn't being monitored by somebody when I bought my own house. When you live in your family, it's different because your family...
• 16:48
  you know, my, my mom and dad are fantastic because they, you know, they do really healthy, balanced, nutritious meals, but I would eat in secret outside of the home. When I moved into my own home and my nutrition was mine, suddenly it was the urge of, I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want. Yeah. Yeah. But when you were going to restaurants with friends, how can I have an extra side without being noticed? It was things like that. But,
• 17:09
  suddenly, you know, when you're on a journey like this, the sort of clarity, you know, I don't have to sit on a chair anymore and think, am I going to get stuck in this chair? When I walk through that door, am I going to brush up against the walls? You know, am I going to be able to, you know, wear the item of clothing? How is it going to make me look? How am I going to feel? Suddenly those things were sort of gone for me. And it's just that level of anxiety. And as you touched upon, you know, that sort of monotone feeling that you had before you lost weight, I think because you're carrying around so many sort of mental cues and blocks,
• 17:38
  it stops you from feeling that natural joy that you want to feel as a person yeah you don't feel like you're putting your best self forward and as i touched upon earlier it made me sort of feel like i got this sort of big rubber ring around myself to my nearest and dearest i wasn't the person i actually wanted to be yeah there was this big barrier in the way and that seems to have gone for me yeah no well that's you know that's amazing and i think thank you you know you you
• 18:04
  get onto a much more lighter note excuse the pun but like you know you have lost eight stone now like that is a crazy amount of weight to have lost and you should be so proud of yourself for having lost it regardless of whether it's been on a glp1 or not on a glp1 it's it's hard to lose weight like everybody can you know agree with that so you know for you how does that feel hearing that out loud and you know how you know you've touched a lot on it there but like how
• 18:32
  It feels like I'm living the life that I've always wanted to lead in a sense. You know, I'm very lucky. You know, I have a very supportive partner. I've got a fantastic family. I've got great friends. I've got a good job. I've got my own house. But this was the one thing I couldn't seem to be sort of not in control of, but it was just the one thing that didn't seem to be...
• 18:53
  sort of going in my favour as such. The fact that I finally have got this sort of thing under control, it just feels incredible for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a lot of people will feel like this. You still have days where you look in the mirror and go, oh, have I actually lost that? And I think this is why, for me, the pieces of advice I was given early on the journey was take photographs
• 19:13
  but also do measurements as well. The scale might not always move, but actually, you know, you can measure your chest and go, oh, I've lost an inch off my chest. Or, you know, I can try on a pair of jeans that's a size smaller than what I'm in. I'm going to buy that and actually it fits me. It's those little decisions and those little wins that, you know, really uplift me, I guess. But I feel like I'm living a life. I always feel like,
• 19:37
  this is the life that when I was at my sort of Monday change, you know, view, this is the life I would have wanted to have built. But now I'm actually living it and it feels incredible. Yeah. Now that's, it's so lovely to hear you saying that. And I think, you know, for anybody that maybe is considering starting this journey or maybe just started, you know, I think that will be really encouraging. You know, it's encouraging for me and I literally every word that you're saying there
• 20:04
  I can wholeheartedly agree with everything because it's this life that you live now as this lighter person, this more confident person, you know, this healthier, you know, person. I think it does things to you that you just, I had never anticipated. I would feel the way I feel on this side, you know, the other side.
• 20:26
  If there's one thing I can say, and I think this is particularly, you know, men's mental health is a significant thing. And I think that, you know, I think at times, you know, it's very easy for us as men to go, I don't want to think about my body image and things like that and the impact that has on my mental health. But, you know, if by sharing a story like this, if it can help, you know, a man to go, oh, actually it is okay to admit that I'm struggling, you know, with how I look or how I feel,
• 20:56
  that has a positive impact on somebody. I always say this too, it's like, you know, that's the whole reason, you know, I do social media, it's the reason you do social media, you know, if you can impact one person's life into changing their life and changing their, you know,
• 21:10
  health, whatever way that might be, whether it's mental health, whether it's physical health, you know, emotional health, you know, that is, that makes doing the social media side of things, you know, completely worth it. Like, you know, for, for what started, I think, you know, documenting journeys, which it has been for all of us, I think, you know, how much impact that can have and like positive impact, not a negative impact. So
• 21:31
  Yeah, I think you're totally right in what you're saying. And I would completely agree with it. So I think, you know, beyond that weight loss, let's talk about some of the positives then that you have really found from this. So, you know, in terms of your health, you've reversed your prediabetes and lowered your, you know, high blood pressure. How important have those health wins been for you?
• 21:53
  So yeah, when I got told that I got high blood pressure and I got prediabetes, I just buried my head in the sand. I just felt I was sort of on this course I didn't want to be on. I just thought that I would hope that it would go away if I didn't sort of confront the reality of it. You know, my doctors were doing everything they could to sort of offer support to me, but I didn't.
• 22:11
  I didn't do anything with that support. I sort of just didn't acknowledge it. I hadn't had a blood test for two years. I decided that, you know, on my birthday at the end of July, I was going to treat myself to a blood test, which, you know, what a birthday treat for myself. But I basically had this blood test and got the results that said, you're back into sort of healthy range. I couldn't quite believe it. I printed it out on a piece of paper, sort of held it and looked at it and thought, oh my God, this is real. This is actually happening for me. Like this is going the right way.
• 22:39
  I had a blood pressure check about a month or so later that said again, I've got healthy blood pressure, which more than anything for me, it was the fact that I was actually, without sort of being conscious of it, I was causing a lot of worry for my nearest and dearest when I told them that I'd got prediabetes and high blood pressure. It worried them a lot. And actually to be able to phone them and say, this is the result, you know, it made them quite emotional because it was actually alleviating a worry.
• 23:04
  on someone else yeah that i didn't realize was there and so i'm just i'm just eternally grateful and i'm now trying at least check my blood pressure once i'm trying to go to the doctors just to keep an eye on things yeah and i think that denial that i'd had because again that monday mindset creeping in it's so dangerous but it was it was impacting lots of areas because i was thinking to myself oh well the monday mindset will change my blood pressure will go down and i'll get a normal you know blood sugar range as well and actually again
• 23:31
  that wasn't happening because I wasn't doing anything about my health. And so the fact that it's changed now is, it's quite happy. It's quite happy. I'm not happy about it. To have those reversals in your health, like, you know, that shows the real impact. And that shows how well you've done on this journey, you know, not just on the scale, but just, you know, these are all,
• 23:50
  you know, they are all worries that when you get diagnosed with these things, you know, and I think, you know, I can completely relate because I was exactly the same, not with the pre-diabetes, but high blood pressure and cholesterol and things like that. And just, you know, liver damage and all these things. And to be able to reverse all that, like, you know, that is an amazing gift to yourself. You know, like you're laughing there by giving
• 24:14
  birthday treat in terms of it was the best birthday gift exactly like you know like literally what else could you give yourself than you know better health like that potentially can lengthen and give yourself longevity in life and you know that's an amazing amazing gift
• 24:29
  you know, when you've been talking through a lot of your conversation there, you know, you've mentioned quite a lot about that clarity that you had being on JLP1. So, you know, maybe we can get a little bit more into, you know, what you mean by that and just how did having that clarity really help you build, you know, those new habits to get into that healthier version of you? The one thing I'd say is I was always carrying around as this little big bubble in my mind about my weight, but also not doing anything about it. So it was almost this stress I was carrying around without actually acting upon at all.
• 24:57
  And so when you suddenly feel like actually you're in control against this mindset, that sort of dissipates a little bit, it sort of disappears. The one thing I'd say about habit building is every time I had tried to start again on Monday, I tried to be the absolute best version of myself on that Monday morning, eat the best food, do the most exercise. And doing the most didn't help me. And, you know, the way I look at it is...
• 25:20
  You wouldn't buy a pile of bricks and some water and then say, I've got a house. You can have all those things, but actually it takes a while to build up a version of yourself. So to have this sort of weight under control a little bit, it meant that I could actually build that mental space towards having the confidence to go into the kitchen, cook some nice food. When I went out to the supermarket, I wasn't just drawn to the shiny promotional stand full of all the sweets and the treats, but actually I was going and looking at ingredients for good meals, balanced meals, everything.
• 25:48
  You know, it just meant that I wasn't suddenly drawn to convenience or quickness because of how overloaded I felt. I'd sort of felt a lot lighter. I wasn't overloaded by stress. Yeah. So I could start to decide with action into other things. And cooking has been one of those things. Don't get me wrong, I cannot cook to save my life. But I can do enough stuff that is healthy and it's nutritionally balanced and it is still food that I enjoy eating as well. And the one thing I've always tried to do when I've done diets before is I've eaten stuff I haven't enjoyed. Yeah. And enjoyment is absolutely part of it. Yeah.
• 26:18
  been sort of void from any diets I've been in the past and actually this allows me to decide to eat things which I enjoy eating but are also good for me as well. Yeah, yeah. A lot of people I think being on this journey get, you know, we talk about habits all the time and whatnot and I think a lot of people think you just need to be that almost extreme version of healthy but actually as long as you are doing the version of healthy that works for you and you're eating the foods that you enjoy to eat that are that version of healthy then, you know, that's a win and I think...
• 26:48
  you know, we're all very different that way. And I think, you know, as long as it works for you and, and, you know, it's, you're able to manage and, and whatever it is you find, I suppose, you know, recipe wise and, and things that, that do work for you, then, you know, go for it. And, and, and I think, you know, for me, I can resonate with what you're saying there in terms of like looking at the ingredients and stuff, cause I never would have been like that before. And I think for me it is, you're just saying what, okay, this is a little bit better for me, I'll get this version instead of that version or whatever, but, but yeah.
• 27:17
  I think kind of relating to the habits then as well, like, you know, obviously that was a big part of the journey and building them habits for longevity. But also, you know, another big part of your story and like a lot of our stories is how much that confidence really does come shining through when you start losing that weight. And, you know, I think...
• 27:36
  for us all really you know confidence is well for me it's probably the thing that I have loved the most about this journey and and being this person that I am now so you know what gave you the confidence I suppose you mentioned there about running and going to the gym and stuff you know what give you the confidence to go there because I know for me it is not a place I enjoy being it is
• 28:00
  want to really go to so like where have you found that confidence to to be able to to add that now into your routine it's kind of come from a couple of places because i always felt that gyms you know and and even running even though you go running typically by yourself or a park run for example i always felt like you know
• 28:17
  a person in a bigger body didn't belong in those spaces and you had to be the best version of yourself to be there and it's taken me a long time to work up to that but actually you know I have already done a lot of things on my health journey so that by the time I got to January 1st when I joined the gym I'm a January joiner and it's
• 28:35
  I haven't felt like I'm starting on day one. Yeah. And as I said, when you build habits, I haven't tried to, I wasn't trying to be the best version of myself on the 31st of March. I've taken things slowly and built things in over time. And that's why it's taken nine months nearly to join a gym. But when I got there, I didn't feel like I was the biggest person in the room. You know, I didn't feel like anybody was watching me.
• 28:56
  because I think I recognized through being on a GLP One Journey that everybody in that gym, regardless of how they look or feel, they're all doing something to better themselves. And that's what I'm there for. And it wasn't just gyms were not this place for just people that looked their best, really muscular and fit and can do all the exercises. Actually, it's a place where people are on vastly different journeys. They're all there for different reasons. And actually, I'm just there to benefit myself. And it sounds a bit like maybe an oddly selfish way to look at it, but actually...
• 29:25
  I'm not there for anybody else's benefit. I'm there just for me. The same with the running as well. I did running before I started the gym because again, I wanted to do something for my sort of mental health, but also my physical health. And I felt that, you know, when I started running and the people are going to be driving past in their cars and pointing out the window, look at the big person out running. But actually,
• 29:45
  You know, I sort of feel this, you know, whenever I see anybody out running, I kind of think to myself, oh my God, you know, oh, I wonder how they're doing, I wonder how they're feeling. You know, I don't look at them and think, oh, well, you know, that person must be a marathon runner. Yeah, it doesn't matter if you've run five meters, five miles, whatever, you know, you're doing something again to better yourself. And I think that's where that sort of mindset's allowed me to go into these places. I've been members of gyms for many years, different gyms, but I never actually thought I belonged in there or everybody was watching me, but because I know...
• 30:13
  becoming a version of myself i've always wanted to be i'm almost at my best foot forward when i go into that gym and i'm doing something for myself and it's it's nice because you know i may not be on the glp one journey forever but i'm starting this new journey whilst i'm still on this one so i don't suddenly feel like i'm having to be the best version of that on day one you know they're different journeys at different paces but they work together and that's i think what's quite nice about it really
• 30:36
  Yeah, it's funny you're saying that about the gym and things and about, you know, worried almost what other people think, you know, and in episode four of this podcast, you know, I talked to Dr. Mike Herring and he basically is a massive gym buff and, you know, loves going to the gym and has lost a lot of weight too. And I think one thing that resonated me from that episode was, you know, he said, anybody that does go to the gym, we're not thinking about who's, oh, that's a new person or whatever, or look at them or whatever. We're thinking,
• 31:05
  good on you for getting yourself into the gym and pushing yourself. And I suppose, yeah, it's just that really reframed my mindset in terms of, because I, like you, I think, you know, I'm going in and I'm like,
• 31:20
  everybody's judging me in here and they're thinking all sorts about me, but actually, you know, it was nice to hear that other side of it, of how somebody that does go to the gym and who's a complete nutter, I think he called himself a meathead, well, like, you know, I might've got that wrong, but, uh, so apologies, Dr. Mike, don't come for me. But, uh, but yes, he did say something along them lines, but, um, but yeah, no, it's, it's, it's great that you've put yourself out there and you're, you're doing that, you know, I'm doing something similar in
• 31:50
  I'm doing a lot of home workouts and things, and it's really working for me, and I'm really, really enjoying it. So there's also lots of things out there as well. If you're not, if you don't feel fully confident to go into those places and spaces, you know, there's so many fantastic creators online. There is a creator called Scotty. He's great because he does something called the Mintz Club, and it's only once a month, but it's a virtual running club. And it actually, you sort of have that camaraderie feeling of being in a running club without having to actually go to a running club. You know, I looked at joining a running club,
• 32:18
  But again, I sort of backed out a bit a little bit because I thought all these people must be, you know, marathon runners who are just having a nice easy job around, you know, where we live. But actually, to join that sort of virtual running club and have a collective feeling of, you know, bettering yourself, that would be lovely for me as well because I've done those runs. It's honestly great. Yeah.
• 32:35
  I think really that then sort of leads me on to, because we're getting nearly to the end of the podcast now, but like what really, if you could kind of sum it up in, you know, less than a minute, what has surprised you most about yourself during this journey? I think what surprised myself is actually the fact that I've got a social media sort of page and doing that sort of thing. If you told me even when I'd ordered the medication that, you know, you'd start posting TikToks, but also that there are people out there that want to sort of listen to you and support you, who you, you know, might not have met in person.
• 33:05
  that probably would have been the biggest thing you know i'd always particularly whenever i'd sort of followed trends or creators on social media that sort of had similar interests to me i always would watch other people and kind of go oh they're doing great fantastic you know but i would never have the confidence to do it myself and the fact that i do so you know i watched your videos particularly and sort of thought well you know there's a really well established creator in this space you know
• 33:28
  And actually to then post videos of yourself, you know, I've got some really supportive friends out of this journey. You know, one of my friends basically said, why don't you just post one video? Just have a look and, you know, see what happens. And the flood of support that I got from just posting one video, it was like, oh, people actually want to listen to what I've got to say about this. And again, if anyone is thinking of setting up a page or a TikTok or an Instagram, whatever it is,
• 33:52
  have the confidence to do it you know because it's such a supportive community and it's really encouraged me when I've had low moments on my journey in the last nine months. I do recall like you know doing lives and you coming into them lives at the very very start even before you had your page and you I do remember you saying you were like I'm going to start TikTok page or I'm thinking about it I think was the first and then I'm going to start it like just over a little bit of time and I do remember that and I think
• 34:18
  know and anybody that does say that to me i'm always like do it because a you're holding yourself accountable so for you primarily in terms of you're able to see your own journey and but also at the same time like you know if you only affect one person in terms of helping them on their own journey well that's that makes it so much yeah completely agree so i suppose for anyone that's listening you know that feels maybe
• 34:42
  a little skeptical about starting or ashamed or just stuck in that I'll start in Monday mindset, like you've mentioned, you know, what would you want them to hear? It's almost the same as the sort of New Year's Day, new me sort of approach is actually don't try and be the most extreme and best version of yourself on Monday. You know, if you do choose a Monday, even, you know, Monday isn't the day where everything has to change. Take it slow. If you change just one little thing on that day,
• 35:10
  you know, and try and keep at that and then change something else the following Monday, then that's a far more sustainable thing. You know, we can adapt, I think, better to small changes rather than extreme changes all at once. I think if you can take it as I said, building a house doesn't happen just because you bought the bricks and mortar. You know, it takes a great deal of time to get to where you want to be, but actually don't punish yourself also for not making a
• 35:34
  40 changes to everything on a Monday just try changing one thing take it slow and I firmly believe that you will get there more sustainably and that's again what this journey has given me so yeah No well I think that's really great advice for anybody that is feeling like that and yeah I suppose then to finish up the last question it's a very personal one I know and this is going to take a lot of reflection probably in terms of answering it but
• 36:02
  Really, if you could go back and speak to, you know, the version of you back on the 31st of March, 2025, you know, what would you tell him? I think firstly, he's...
• 36:16
  You might feel that the way that you are or the way you look is a bad thing and you're a bad, awful, horrible person. Firstly, you're not. Yeah. Be kinder to yourself because kindness doesn't take much. Have some faith in what you're about to do will change things for you. It will change your life. It will make you feel like the version of yourself that you want it to be. But...
• 36:40
  Don't expect to suddenly change overnight. This isn't a Monday. This is literally just one small change, but it will kick off so many changes, experiences, relationships with people and boundaries that you've pushed that you never thought were possible. It will open up a great deal for you
• 36:59
  But again, just be a bit kinder to yourself and remember that, you know, this journey is, it's going to have, it's up and down days, but you will get to where you want to be. You know, anybody that's listening, I would say more than likely be able to resonate with that person, you know, back then. So yes.
• 37:18
  Thank you so much for joining me for this episode today. You have an incredible story and you've had an incredible transformation. Eight stone is a crazy loss and you should be so proud of yourself for having lost that on. I think if anybody listening can take anything away from your story, I think
• 37:36
  you know, like I said, if you can inspire one person, you know, there's not a better story to inspire somebody because I think you've been very vulnerable there and talking about things that you've talked about. And I think people appreciate that. And I appreciate it listening to you and appreciate your story. And, you know, like I said, you should be so proud of where you've come. So thank you for joining me. Thank you for all that you do as well, because I think, you know, you have a massive impact on a lot of people and, you know, you've had a significant impact, certainly on me, you know, because if I hadn't found your page, I don't know where I'd be. So again, thank you for all that you do as well.
• 38:06
  Well, you can be that one person that has been inspired by me and, you know, pass it forward is all I would say. But thank you so much. And yeah.