Personal trainer reveals why she quit Mounjaro after losing 55kg

By eating well and exercising regularly, certified personal trainer and fitness nutritionist Natalie Wilgus can always maintain a healthy weight.

But after the birth of her son in 2019, Wilgus experienced a series of symptoms that compromised her body and spirit, including weight gain, loss of muscle mass, massive mood swings, thinning hair and voracious food cravings.

Doctors assured her that her body was adjusting to motherhood and her weight would eventually stabilize.

It didn’t happen. Wilgus tells Women’s Health, “Despite doing everything ‘right’ (eating clean, watching my macros, exercising every day), not only was I not losing weight, I was actually winning weight.”

After two years of fighting to no avail, Wilgus finally saw an endocrinologist who discovered that her body was not producing testosterone. She began giving herself weekly injections of the hormone, but still saw no change in her weight.

Three months later, she decided to try Mounjaro, the tirzepatide diabetes drug that has helped users shed pounds quickly.

“I was desperate for something to move the needle and Mounjaro was literally the last resort for me,” explained Wilgus, who has polycystic ovary syndrome but had not experienced weight gain from the condition. “Up until the point of receiving my first injection, nothing I was doing – daily exercise, watching my diet and testosterone treatment – had worked.”

Wilgus and her doctor set a goal weight of 140 pounds and agreed that once she reached that goal, she would stop taking Mounjaro and go into a “maintenance phase.”

Her body’s response to the injections was swift and powerful. “My cravings immediately subsided and my portion sizes at each meal were cut by more than half,” she said.

Wilgus continued her pre-Mounjaro fitness regimen of cardio and strength training, exercising five to six times a week for 45 to 60 minutes a day.

“I think that was part of what helped me lose the weight so quickly,” she told Women’s Health. “I was already doing the ‘right’ things from a traditional weight loss standpoint, but my body just wasn’t responding before I started Mounjaro.”

Wilgus lost 10 pounds in the first two weeks of taking Mounjaro, eventually losing more than 55 pounds.

While some people who take weight loss injections experience significant muscle loss, Wilgus was determined to stay strong. “I pushed myself to lift more weight in the gym and focused on increasing my protein intake to maintain my muscles,” she said.

Six months after she started taking Mounjaro, Wilgus achieved her weight loss goal. Over the course of two months, she was slowly weaned off the medication and thankfully, had no negative side effects.

In the tapering period, Wilgus learned to maintain the habits and portion sizes she adopted while taking Mounjaro, crediting them with helping her maintain her weight.

“I immediately share the food as soon as I sit down to eat. If I’m at a restaurant, I ask for a to-go box at the beginning of my meal. That way, I can portion out my meal appropriately and not be tempted to overeat,” she told Women’s Health. “If I’m cooking at home, I like to pre-portion what I need and pack the rest for another meal.”

Wilgus explained that several factors, primarily meeting her goal weight, influenced her to stop the medication.

Cost also played a role in her leaving. Since the injections were not covered by insurance, she paid out of pocket and over $1,000 a month for most of the time she spent at Mounjaro. “I think it helped, though, because it made me want to get to my goal weight sooner so I didn’t have to keep paying!” Wilgus said.

Another reason? Body dysmorphia.

“It’s true and I’m no exception to his mental damage — so it was very important that I chose a weight that I knew was healthy and sustainable for my overall success,” she told Women’s Health.

However, if Wilgus notices weight gain of more than 10 pounds over a six-month period, she takes a low “maintenance” dose of Mounjaro for two weeks.

“This was on my doctor’s recommendation, and since I only use two of the Mounjaro pens for maintenance doses (instead of all four in a monthly pack), it’s much more affordable as one pack will last me a year . ,” she told Women’s Health.

Wilgus hopes her story will reduce the stigma of taking drugs like Mounjaro for weight loss, “A lot of people are embarrassed or ashamed to say they’ve gotten help from medications, but I love that we live in a world where there are .. My body feels stronger and I feel more in control of my health than ever before.”