{"id":299639,"date":"2025-10-13T10:08:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T10:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/299639\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T10:08:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T10:08:18","slug":"i-can-no-longer-afford-the-gym-but-ive-still-managed-to-lose-six-stone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/299639\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I can no longer afford the gym but I’ve still managed to lose six stone’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Portia Devine, 35, who is just over five feet tall, weighed 14st 7lbs in 2022\"PortiaPortia before her weight loss<\/p>\n

A woman who has shed nearly six stone and dropped a dress size every month has said food no longer “feels like an addiction” after using Mounjaro jabs.<\/p>\n

Portia Devine, 35, a project manager from Ely, Cambridgeshire, hit her heaviest weight of 14st 7lbs (92.1kg) in 2022, feeling trapped in a cycle of emotional eating<\/a> and low self-esteem.<\/p>\n

At 5ft 1in (154.9cm) tall, Portia confessed she used to “constantly” think about food, until she started taking Mounjaro \u2013 a weight loss injection medication<\/a> which makes you feel fuller for longer and therefore less hungry \u2013 in April 2025.<\/p>\n

Since then, she has been losing weight steadily, dropping a dress size each month and gaining newfound confidence. She now ventures out alone and no longer hides behind “baggy clothes”.<\/p>\n

Portia now tips the scales at 8st 11lbs (55.8kg), wears a size eight, and spends \u00a3210 a month on her medication and check-ups, but admitted she no longer goes to the gym as she can’t afford both.<\/p>\n

Portia said: “Food used to feel like an addiction \u2013 I was always thinking about it and I’d be hungry straight after eating for no reason.<\/p>\n

“Mounjaro has been the best decision I’ve ever made \u2013 food is still enjoyable but I view it as fuel now.<\/p>\n

“It’s just changed my mindset, I used to use food as a reward.”<\/p>\n

Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group <\/strong>HERE<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Portia reached her heaviest weight of 14st 7lbs (92.1kg), when she had an obese body mass index (BMI) of 38.4 and wore a size 18, in 2022, after years of struggling with her weight.<\/p>\n

She said: “I’ve been overweight since I was 10, when I had my first period, and I put weight on almost overnight.<\/p>\n

“I think what led me to my highest weight, though, was I got into a new relationship, and we were eating out a lot.<\/p>\n

“Then we broke up and I was quite miserable and was emotionally eating.”<\/p>\n

\"PortiaPortia said food used to feel like an \u2018addiction\u2019 <\/p>\n

In 2022, Portia would typically skip breakfast, have a sandwich and crisps for lunch and eat a home-cooked dinner of stews containing “hidden calories”, such as high-fat mince and cream.<\/p>\n

At the time, she said she went to the gym three times a week but did not “do many” steps each day because she worked in an office.<\/p>\n

She added: “I felt very low, my self-esteem was rock bottom.<\/p>\n

“I have suffered from anxiety most of my life, and my weight and how I looked definitely added to that.<\/p>\n

“I would try to hide myself with baggy clothes and I felt like I couldn’t really dress the way I wanted, because nothing looked good on me.<\/p>\n

“I wouldn’t really go out on my own because I didn’t want people to notice me.”<\/p>\n

\"PortiaPortia was trapped in a cycle of emotional eating <\/p>\n

Portia said she felt as though she was constantly thinking about food and that it felt like “an addiction”.<\/p>\n

“I felt like my body was telling me I was hungry even though I shouldn’t be \u2013 I felt like I was fighting my body,” she explained.<\/p>\n

“I felt like I couldn’t think about anything else.”<\/p>\n

Portia also felt she had tried “every diet” over the years \u2013 from WeightWatchers to intense calorie counting \u2013 and that nothing “seemed to work”.<\/p>\n

But going to the gym and “watching what she ate” helped her lose some weight \u2013 by 2025, she weighed 12st (76.2kg), with an obese BMI of 31.7, and wore a size 14.<\/p>\n

However, from there, she said her weight plateaued, despite increasing her exercise and decreasing her calorie intake.<\/p>\n

So, in April 2025, she decided to try Mounjaro and said her food noise \u2013 the constant thoughts about food \u2013 “instantly” disappeared.<\/p>\n

\"PortiaPortia no longer goes to the gym as she cannot afford a membership alongside Mounjaro<\/p>\n

“It felt like a weight off my shoulders, to be honest, and just a huge relief,” Portia said.<\/p>\n

“I stopped having anxiety about my weight and slowly felt more confident and happier.”<\/p>\n

In her first week, she said she lost 5lbs (2.3kg), followed by 3lbs (1.4kg) in her second week, and since then she has lost an average of 2lbs (0.9kg) per week.<\/p>\n

“I’ve consistently lost weight per week. Luckily, I haven’t had any plateaus,” she added.<\/p>\n

“It’s changed my life \u2013 I can’t believe how well it has worked.”<\/p>\n

Since taking the medication, she said she has often suffered with nausea but has managed to keep this at bay by using Sea-Band’s acupressure bands \u2013 a product she has not been paid to promote.<\/p>\n

\"PortiaPortia dropped a dress size every month<\/p>\n

She said: “They’ve been a lifesaver, and I don’t feel nauseous anymore, they’ve really made a difference.”<\/p>\n

Portia said she has been prescribed Mounjaro through her local pharmacy and currently pays \u00a3210 a month for 7.5mg, along with a monthly check-up that includes blood pressure monitoring and discussions about her progress.<\/p>\n

NHS<\/a> England says that, before prescribing Mounjaro, a healthcare professional will talk through the benefits and limitations, including any side effects.<\/p>\n

If Mounjaro is recommended, individuals will need to eat a balanced, reduced calorie diet and take part in physical activity regularly whilst taking the medicine.<\/p>\n

\"PortiaPortia used to use food as a reward<\/p>\n

Portia now “prioritises protein and fibre” in her daily diet, having yoghurt, flaxseeds and peanut butter for breakfast, homemade soup for lunch and a low-fat cottage pie for dinner.<\/p>\n

She now also goes to Pilates classes and walks daily but she “can’t afford” a gym membership alongside paying for Mounjaro.<\/p>\n

Portia has “dropped a dress size every month” and now enjoys shopping, though she is still adjusting to her new body.<\/p>\n

She now weighs 8st 11lbs (55.8kg), with a healthy BMI of 23.2, wearing a size eight, and feels “so much more confident”.<\/p>\n

Portia said: “I do more on my own now.<\/p>\n

\"PortiaPortia has lost nearly six stone<\/p>\n

“I met my mum and dad the other day in a restaurant and I walked in on my own, which sounds silly, but I never would have done that before.<\/p>\n

“I go to coffee shops and restaurants on my own and enjoy it.”<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, she plans to join the gym and slowly wean herself off Mounjaro, with advice from her pharmacist, once she reaches her goal weight of 8st 7lb (53.9kg).<\/p>\n

“I feel confident that I can keep the weight off \u2013 I think I’ve built up healthy habits and my whole mindset around food has changed,” she said.<\/p>\n

To others wanting to lose weight, she said: “If I can do it, anyone can.<\/p>\n

“I’d recommend the jabs \u2013 it changed my entire life.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Portia Devine, 35, who is just over five feet tall, weighed 14st 7lbs in 2022Portia before her weight…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":299640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[152566,1198,210,5844,6330,6989,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-299639","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-dieting-and-weight-loss","9":"tag-fitness","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-health-and-fitness","12":"tag-healthy-eating","13":"tag-real-life","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115366311437040217","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}