A mum-of-two struggled with her weight for almost 30 years and tried “every diet” with no lasting results – and revealed how she finally lost five stone in a year.
Lisa Jenkinson, 45, weighed 20 pounds at her peak and even underwent gastric sleeve surgery in a bid to keep the pounds off, but it didn’t eliminate the desire to “emotionally eat.”
Having yo-yo dieted since she was a teenager, Lisa had previously “starved herself” on Weight Watchers, drank weight-loss shakes, tried Keto, and had even limited herself to eating only hard-boiled eggs and grapefruit. But nothing worked in the long term.
Last year, when Lisa weighed 16 stone and realized her weight was starting to affect her health, she discovered NHS-backed Second Nature, which offers weight loss programs supported by Wegovy and Mounjaro.
Wegovy and Mounjaro, like Ozempic, can help people lose weight by decreasing their appetite for food.
One year later, Lisa now weighs 11 stone 7 pounds and wears a size 12.
While Lisa previously underwent gastric sleeve surgery, which helped her lose some weight, it didn’t eliminate the desire to “emotionally eat.”
Wegovy and Mounjaro, like Ozempic, can help people lose weight by decreasing their appetite for food.
Lisa Jenkinson, 45, weighed 9kg at her heaviest (left). After following the Wegovy-assisted weight loss program, Lisa now weighs 5 stone and 3 stone (right)
With “slight reservations,” Lisa started a low dose of Wegovy in November 2023 and saw improvements immediately.
Lisa said: ‘When I was younger I felt something was wrong with me as I couldn’t eat what other people ate.
‘Some people can stay very thin and eat large packets of crisps, chocolate and cakes.
‘And I didn’t want to be different, and I was trying to be ‘good’ on the outside, but secretly, I ate the wrong things.
“I was filling an emotional void that can never be filled. I would do it when I was happy as a reward and when I was sad.
‘If you’ve never liked food or have never been overweight, you’d think ‘just don’t eat it’, but it’s not that simple.
‘Wegovy has changed my life. I didn’t expect it to work like it has, eliminating all cravings.
“And what I’ve also found of great value is the support program, the daily lessons about diet foods and how what we’ve read and learned about diets over the years is not really true.”
Single mother Lisa was “fit but burly” as a child and swam for her county.
But at five feet four inches and weighing 25 pounds at the age of 14, he began dieting.
Throughout her twenties, she yo-yo dieted and experienced “periods of being fat and being thin,” weighing nearly 30 pounds and wearing a size 18.
Lisa Lisa weighed 9 kilos (left) four years after giving birth to her daughter, Clara. She says she has become much more confident since losing weight (right)
Despite having a BMI over 40, Lisa was considered healthy by her GP and received little support when it came to losing weight.
Lisa was 32 when she had her daughter Clara, who is now 13, and gained five kilos during the pregnancy.
And, in the four years after Clara’s birth, Lisa gained another five kilos, reaching 20 kilos.
Desperate to lose weight for good, in 2014, at age 35, she paid to undergo a private gastric sleeve operation, in which part of her stomach was removed.
She said: ‘I felt like being pregnant was an excuse to eat. He used to joke that he ate at six. When Clara was born, I was so involved with her that I didn’t think about what I ate and I continued to gain weight.
“I tried everything from drinking only shakes three times a day without eating, I went back to losing weight World, I tried Weight Watchers and Atkins, and I felt like I couldn’t change the weight and I couldn’t stay on these unsustainable diets because they made me so unhappy.
‘I’ve never had much support from my GP. It was very much about “move more, eat less.”
‘I didn’t qualify at all because I was ‘healthy’, even though my BMI was over 40!’
A BMI over 40 indicates severe obesity, the NHS reports.
Lisa added: “I had joint pain, I was short of breath due to the extra weight, but the GP considered me lucky I didn’t have high cholesterol or pre-diabetic.”
‘I felt like I had no choice but to have the surgery. It took away my physical hunger, but not the emotional side of things.’
However, Lisa was experiencing joint pain and difficulty breathing due to the extra weight.
Because Lisa did not have high cholesterol or was prediabetic, even at her heaviest, her primary care doctor considered Lisa lucky and simply told her to eat less and move more.
After surgery, Lisa experienced steady weight loss due to eating smaller portions and reducing her appetite.
She dropped to 10 kilos, before becoming pregnant with Reuben, now eight years old, in 2015.
After the birth of her son, Lisa “lost all the baby weight quickly” and was very active, busy with two children.
But in 2019, and weighing 13 kilos, the weight was “coming back up,” so he started going to the gym.
Lisa said: ‘It just drags and drags and drags. I was starving myself on certain diets. I didn’t eat breakfast, I was “good” for lunch and I made dinner at home with smaller portions, but then I ate chocolate and chips in the evening to “reward” myself for being “good” all day.
Last November, Lisa realized she needed extra support and, concerned that her weight was affecting her long-term health, discovered NHS-backed Second Nature.
Over 10 years, Second Nature has helped over 250,000 people in the UK achieve long-lasting weight loss.
It also offers medication-assisted programs, including Mounjaro or tirzepatide, which treats type 2 diabetes and weight loss, and Wegovy or semaglutide.
Now weighing 11 stone 7 pounds, Lisa wears a size 12. The weight loss has helped her build her confidence, leading her to apply for a new job.
Potential users must complete a strict online test to see if they are eligible to receive the drug.
Lisa said: ‘At first, I was worried. What if it had a really terrible side effect? But another part of me thought that if I didn’t do something it was going to be huge, which wouldn’t be good for my health either.
‘After starting a low dose of Wegovy, I felt a little nauseous but nothing else.
‘I started losing weight straight away, which was incredible. Even with healthy eating I hadn’t realized that. I was more conscious of what I ate and didn’t think about food as much as before.
“It was liberating to not have to deal with that side of things.”
Since November, Lisa has gradually increased her dose of Wegovy each month, along with support from Second Nature.
You have access to health coaches, support materials, and a group chat with others who are on a similar weight loss journey.
Having dropped to 11kg 7lbs, Lisa is now wearing a size 12 dress. While she has treated herself to new clothes, she is still getting used to her new weight.
Since losing weight, Lisa has returned to Pilates and no longer feels self-conscious in classes.
At the same time, Lisa says she is no longer afraid of food thanks to the Wegovy-assisted weight loss program, which encourages participants to eat regularly.
Lisa added: ‘The support provided by the Second Nature program has been brilliant.
‘There are daily lessons, just five minutes worth of reading, that make you think about things. Like all diet foods, they still have the same impact on the body, but you crave them more because they are full of processed things.
‘I’ve become more confident since losing weight and even applied for a job I would never have done. I’m back to doing Pilates and I feel like I can face people and get some exercise. I feel like I am a different person when I have lost weight.
‘I’m no longer afraid of food – Second Nature’s medication program works best when eaten regularly.
“So I’ll have fruit and yogurt or bacon and egg for breakfast, I’ll have something low-carb for lunch, like tuna salad, and then for dinner I’ll cook something like bolognese, but I’ll eat smaller portions like I’m full. I’ve learned not to.” clean my plate like a good girl.”
“It really has been amazing, and I definitely wouldn’t be here at this weight or even this weight if I hadn’t come across Second Nature.”