At her heaviest, Philippa weighed an ‘astonishing’ 103kg and was in ‘constant pain’, with her back, hip, and neck issues leaving her unable to exercise but desperately needing to lose weight.’ Philippa felt as though she had ‘created her own monster’ and tried ‘every diet under the sun’ to lose weight - in fact, one private diet company had to refund Philippa hundreds of pounds after their ‘1,200 calorie a day’ diet led to no change in her weight.
Philippa describes her former self as a ‘wreck’, ‘unable to look in the mirror’ and ‘incredibly low on self confidence’. She was also prescribed an abundance of medication to help treat her anxiety, depression and a panic disorder experienced following the death of the father of her children, as well as various medications to help her recover from the six TIAs (transient ischemic attacks, also known as a mini strokes) she suffered during the menopause.
Since ‘piling even more weight on during lockdown’ - during which Philippa started a ‘sewing circle’ that made over a quarter of a million wearables for NHS workers, becoming at one point the biggest CMT (cut, make and trim) enterprises in the world - Philippa had been at a loss as to how to turn her lifestyle around and to lose the weight she needed to.
That was until 2023, when Philippa discovered leading digital healthcare provider Numan, whose weight loss programme combines the clinically proven weight loss medications Wegovy or Mounjaro with best-in-class wraparound care including unlimited access to expert clinicians, nutritionists, physiologists, and behaviour experts.
Starting Numan’s programme in October 2023, Philippa was initially prescribed a small dosage of weight loss medication, Wegovy. She explains that she has now switched to a regular dose of Mounjaro in order to better suit her needs, and is ‘feeling happier than ever’ as a result of the incredible changes she’s been able to implement and achieve with Numan’s support.
Philippa explains: “My experience with Numan has been amazing. They monitor each individual patient with real care, and everything is tailored to your specific needs.”
Having lost over five stone, Philippa now describes herself as ‘wonder woman’, feeling as though ‘nothing is impossible’ with ‘confidence off the charts’. She is now dating ‘after being rabidly single for eight years’ and feels as though she can ‘rock any outfit as I have a banging body for a 56-year-old’.
Amazingly, Philippa also reveals that she is now ‘entirely medication free’ with a ‘completely clean bill of health’. Having used to struggle to walk, she now feels ‘zero pain’ in her neck, back, or hips and even had to cancel the surgery she had scheduled to fix these issues. She explains how her doctor was ‘dumbfounded’ by her results, having seen how much pain she was in, and she feels ‘happier and more youthful than ever before’ as a result of her weight loss.
Reflecting on her journey so far, Philippa says: “I genuinely believe myself to be the happiest person alive. It’s been the best investment I ever made! I no longer feel as though I need to hide myself and my whole life has been totally transformed.”
Sharing her thoughts on the future, Philippa says: “For the first time in my life, I’m no longer afraid of ageing. I have added another twenty years onto my life, minimum! Now I feel ready to take on the world, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m going to enjoy every single minute of life’s adventure with my new body.”
With a desire to help others along their own weight-loss journeys, Philippa explains that she believes weight-loss medications can ‘save people’s lives’, however, she encourages people to ‘avoid schemes that aren’t clinically managed’.
Philippa explains: “The support of Numan’s clinicians and broader health coaches and experts across nutrition, physiology, exercise and habit formation has been invaluable for me. I think it’s so important that wraparound care and medication is truly personalised, which is what Numan excels at from my personal experience.”
Philippa adds: “I want people like me, who once felt desperate to be happy and disappointed in themselves for health reasons, to realise that weight loss medications - alongside the right wraparound support - could help them take their power back when it comes to their lives, where they may have lost this as a result of weight gain.”