An honest, personal diary about trying to lose weight while running a travel business and, perhaps more importantly, learning how to do it without giving up the life and career I love.
I’m 55, I own and run a travel business, and travelling is a huge part of my job. I spend a lot of time experiencing hotels, restaurants, cruises and destinations so that I can genuinely recommend them to my clients. And that’s where my weight and my work became increasingly connected.
When you’re on holiday for two weeks a year, enjoying the food, wine and hospitality is part of the fun. But when you’re travelling for work for 12 weeks or more a year, treating every trip like a holiday isn’t quite so harmless. I’ve spent years eating in fantastic restaurants, enjoying the hospitality, having the wine and generally making the most of every opportunity. The problem was, I wasn’t doing it for two weeks a year. I was doing it for a significant part of my working life.
For years, I’d lose half a stone, put it back on and then gain a little bit more. Then I’d do it all again. It didn’t happen dramatically and it didn’t feel like a major problem at the time, but slowly and steadily, the weight was snowballing.
Eventually, I found myself at 12 stone 6 pounds, the heaviest I’d ever been. My BMI was 28.1, my knees and ankles were causing problems and I had a wardrobe full of clothes I simply couldn’t get into. I realised I didn’t want to wait until the problem was considerably bigger before doing something about it.
I’ve also had people tell me I wasn’t “overweight enough” to be taking weight loss medication. I know some people don’t approve, and I’m okay with that. I went through a medical assessment before starting treatment and I made the decision because I knew I needed some help. I wasn’t massively overweight, but I wasn’t happy with how I felt, I was having physical problems and I could see where things were heading if I carried on doing what I’d always done.
Today, I’ve lost the weight. But actually, that’s not the thing I’m most proud of.
I’m fitter than I’ve ever been. I’ve improved my diet, my fitness and my muscle mass. My knees and ankles have virtually stopped bothering me. My skin and hair are in better condition than they have been in years. And according to my scales, my metabolic age is 39.
At 55, I’ll take that.
This blog is about what happens when weight loss and the travel industry collide. It’s about trying to make better choices when you’re travelling for work, eating out regularly, staying in hotels, going on cruises, enjoying hospitality and experiencing destinations where food and drink are very much part of the experience.
I’ll be sharing the good, the bad and the unexpected: the weight gain, the weight loss, exercise, eating out, alcohol, side effects, travelling, cruises and the realities of trying to change my habits when my job involves enjoying some of the best things in life.
I’m not prepared to put my life or my business on hold to lose weight. I still want the lovely meals, the celebrations, the champagne and the occasional glass of wine. I simply need to find a way to enjoy all of that without treating every working trip as an excuse to indulge as though I’m on holiday.
This isn’t a medical blog, and I’m not a doctor or dietitian. It’s me sharing my own experience, honestly and openly, including the successes, setbacks, surprises and lessons along the way.
Because for me, the challenge wasn’t simply losing weight. It was recognising that the problem was slowly getting bigger, deciding to do something about it before it became a much bigger problem, and finding a way to become healthier without giving up the life I love.
Gilly bachelor
The truth is, I know what healthy eating looks like.
I enjoy exercise and I’m not someone who’s spent years living on takeaways. My problem has never really been knowing what to do. It’s been doing it consistently.
And my lifestyle probably doesn’t help. I run an independent travel business, and one of the things that’s really important to me is experiencing the places I recommend. I don’t want to simply tell my clients somewhere looks amazing because I’ve seen a few photographs online. I want to know what it’s really like.
This year alone, I’ve spent three weeks touring South Africa, a week exploring the Scottish Wild Isles on an expedition cruise, five nights sailing with Explora Journeys and three weeks in Mauritius.
I feel incredibly lucky. I genuinely do have one of those jobs where people say, “That sounds amazing, I’d love to do that.” And most of the time, they’re absolutely right. The thing is, food is a huge part of every trip.
Hotels want you to experience their restaurants. Cruise lines want you to try every dining venue. Every destination has local dishes that you’d be daft not to sample. It’s all part of understanding what I’m recommending, and I genuinely love that side of my job.
The trouble is, somewhere along the way, I realised I’d stopped eating like someone who travelled a few times a year and started eating like I was permanently on holiday.
The weight didn’t suddenly appear overnight. It crept on gradually. A pound here. A couple there. Another trip. Another celebration. Another promise that I’d get back on track next week. I’ve lost the same half stone more times than I care to remember. I’d do well for a while, feel better, then life would get busy, work would take over, we’d go away somewhere lovely and I’d find myself right back where I’d started.
Eventually, I started looking into weight loss injections.
Before I made the decision, I spoke to quite a few people who had already started taking them. What I found interesting was that everyone I spoke to seemed to be in a very different situation to me. Some were taking them because they had been prescribed them by their doctor to help manage diabetes. Others were significantly overweight and had a much larger amount of weight to lose, often five stone or more.
Their stories were inspiring, but I struggled to find anyone who was in my position. I wasn’t looking to lose five or six stone. I wasn’t trying to completely transform my body. I had around two stone I wanted to lose, but it was two stone that I seemed unable to shift and, more importantly, unable to keep off.
That was the bit I was really interested in.
Could these injections help someone like me? Someone who understood the basics of healthy eating, who enjoyed exercise, who wasn’t starting from a place of extreme weight loss, but who had spent years losing and regaining the same weight?
Not because I thought they were a miracle cure, and certainly not because I was looking for an easy option. I simply wanted to understand whether they could help me break the cycle.
Before I started, I had so many questions.
Do they really stop you feeling hungry? Can you still enjoy eating out? What happens when your job involves travelling and hospitality? Can you go on holiday without undoing all your hard work? And are they really as life-changing as some people say?
I spent hours reading articles, watching videos and scrolling through social media, but so much of what I found felt very black and white. People either seemed to think these injections were the best thing ever or that nobody should be taking them.
I wanted something in the middle. Someone who was just being honest. So that’s what this blog is.
I’m going to share the good bits, the difficult bits, the side effects, the surprises, travelling while taking the injections, eating out, holidays, the ups and downs and whether they’ve actually changed the way I think about food.
I’m not trying to persuade anyone to do the same as me. If you’ve decided they’re not for you, I completely respect that. If you’re already taking them, you might recognise some of what I’m talking about. And if you’re simply curious, I hope you’ll find this interesting.
This isn’t really a blog about injections. It’s about trying to become a healthier version of myself without putting my life on hold. I still want to travel. I still want to enjoy wonderful meals with Brian. I still want to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and all those moments in life that deserve good food and good company.
I don’t want to become the person who says no to everything. I don’t want to avoid restaurants, stop exploring destinations or feel guilty about enjoying myself. I simply want to find a better balance. More than anything, I’m hoping to break the cycle of losing the same two stone over and over again.