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YesOrdon Ramsay was in typically candid form this weekend when he dismissed the idea of a “Monjaro menu” or “…Ozempic Tasting Menu” – Small, Small Restaurant Dishes for People weight loss drugs – As in “complete bulls***”. At first he blamed the diners for eating too much food.
“There is no way to succumb to the Mounjaro jab,” he said. many times In typically bombastic style during an interview to promote his protégé Matt Abbey’s new restaurant, Bonheur, which opened in Mayfair last week. “The problem is this Them [the diners] For overeating At the first fuck place! There’s no way we’re bringing you an Ozempic tasting menu to make you feel less fat by 10.30pm.
Ramsay clearly doesn’t understand this – telling people to eat less doesn’t workIf people could reduce the “food noise” and not eat as much, we would all do it without fat jabs. But there’s a reason why 2.5 million people in the UK are taking weight loss injections – and it’s not because we’re all weak.
I am one of the most determined people I know, but like many people I have struggled food issuesAfter my two pregnancies, I gained 16 kilos (about two and a half tons) and started eating binges. I was comfort eating, happy eating, and sad eating, all at the same time. After my partner died by suicide, I was raising my two children alone, while also dealing with the stress of caring for my elderly father.
I have always had an addictive personality, which makes food-related problems difficult to overcome. I often ate binges late at night – jumbo packs of sugary treats were common for my kids. I had an insatiable appetite, even for healthy meals like Greek yogurt with bananas, bags of cashews, whole packs of vegan cocktail sausages, and large portions. Spaghetti with ClamsThe more food I stuffed down, the less nervous I felt.
Sometimes I had to act on my emotions so fast that I would take some ice cream out of the freezer and eat the entire tub in one sitting. I craved sugar – this often happens to people who give up alcohol, as I did 20 years ago when I became addicted in my twenties.
The noise of food was playing continuously in the background. Overeating became a habit; It was second nature. I couldn’t apply the brakes. I was always thin, but gained weight. Clothes didn’t fit like they used to. My baggy boyfriend jeans felt tight, I could no longer zip up my old dresses, and on vacation, I refused to wear a bikini, walking around in a kaftan instead. I tricked my brain into thinking it was okay. My face looked plump and youthful – and I told myself I didn’t want to be a slave to the “thin girl” aesthetic. After having my two daughters, Lola, now nine, and Liberty, seven, I thought: Who cares anyway? I don’t have time for romantic relationships.
I woke up to my GP telling me my cholesterol levels were dangerously high and I needed a statin. I asked them to give me six months to reverse it.
I was vegan-curious. At the time, not many people in the UK were using it, but I’d heard it was Hollywood’s hottest new secret. Weight loss and diabetes medications such as Ozempic and Vegovy (semaglutide) and Monjaro (tirazeptide) are known GLP-1 receptor agonists. When the GLP-1 receptor is activated in cells in areas of the brain and body that control appetite (such as the hypothalamus), it reduces cravings and food intake, leading to lower blood sugar and gradual weight loss.
At the school gate mothers started whispering about “being in the pen”. A drug that could help me feel full longer and suppress my appetite seemed like exactly what I needed. Even though I had a health problem related to my weight, I still did not meet the full BMI criteria of 30-35, the point at which a person is considered obese. My only hope was to reach out to Wegovi privately through a doctor.
The first time I stuck the knife in my stomach I was nervous, I didn’t know what would happen. When will I stop feeling hungry – and will that take away the joy of eating?
Within a few weeks, the food cravings that I had struggled with for years became so mild that I could ignore them. After about four weeks, it had completely disappeared. I no longer needed to raid the fridge for another piece of cheese, and at children’s parties, I became one of those mums I always envied – the one who didn’t dive head first into the crisps and cake. I spent the whole day fantasizing about what I would have for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
This gave me the opportunity to focus on the emotional, physical, and spiritual changes I needed to make. It took about six or seven months to get back to pre-pregnancy shape and since then, I’ve managed to stay on track. I try to eat within an eight-hour window – from noon to 8 pm – and I avoid sugar and ultra-processed foods wherever possible. But the noise of eating never ends completely. When I’m stressed, I still reach for caramel wafers — but instead of eating a pack of eight, I stop at two.
I stayed on a low dose so that I didn’t have any side effects, and when I reached my old weight, I tapered off the medication over two months to micro-dosing to avoid relapse. It was a way to reset my mind and body — and it worked in a way no fad diet ever did before.
First of all, telling people to eat less is wrong. If people can easily control their food addiction, we can all do it without fat jabs
The mini-menu could really help with a new eating arrangement, meaning Ramsay may regret dismissing the idea. A Bloomberg Market Intelligence survey earlier this year revealed that more than half of people taking weight-loss drugs in the US are eating out less, and UK restaurants will need to adapt their menus to this new way of eating if they want to keep customers coming through the door.
“Monjaro menus” are a growing trend in the US – and they’re becoming increasingly popular here too. Not everyone wants to tackle the two full tasting menus at Bonheur: £195 for five courses, £225 for seven, and a la carte at £165 for three. That’s why some chefs are creating mini “Mounjaro menus.” It’s a thoughtful idea indeed – and a sign of the times.
Heston Blumenthal has created a distinctive “Mindful Experience” tasting menu with reduced portion sizes to cater to diners with smaller appetites at his three-Michelin-starred restaurant, The Fat Duck, in Bray, Berkshire. Meanwhile, Antony Worrall is developing a “sharing menu” at Grill on the Green in Thompson Kew to make eating out less cumbersome.
After six months, I was successful in bringing my cholesterol levels back to normal levels. I felt comfortable in my body – no longer overweight, or hiding in baggy clothes. Today, I feel better and stronger, and I have finally found a way to process my emotions instead of eating them.
So yes, Gordon Ramsay might find it funny. But for many of us, it’s not as simple as “just stop eating so much”. Many of us really appreciate smaller portions and a different kind of dining experience. This should not be something that we should be ashamed of. We are not weak or lack willpower. Taking weight loss pills isn’t cheating – and Ramsay’s criticism isn’t helping. In fact, a creative, delicious “Mounjaro-friendly” menu may be exactly what gets people to come to his door.