Does anyone here have experience of the diabetic drug for weight loss

[FluffEars]

A GP has suggested this to me twice already and I am not too sure. I was googling it and I am apprehensive. I read that it can cause bowel issues. I already have a bowel issues and I am prone to infections in my bowel and I am in an ok place with my bowel and reading my body and condition.

I am a UK size 20. My BMI would about 38 or 39. I don't have a problem losing weight. I can do it. I lost 3 stone approx back in 2020 but then I put it back on again. My diet is good. For me with weight and weight loss I just need to apply myself. However working full time and it's so hard. Especially in the winter time when it's cold and dark out. I knowanyboeople would argue with this and argue to walk more however I do already walk a lot because I don't have a car. I bought a piece of exercise equipment and it is good. However I live with my aging parent and she is so awkward about it due to its size in the living room. Now only that but other things too. It's just not easy. And also my work can be demanding too and intense. Sometimes I have regular days and then other times it can be whole entire full days from morning time til night time. Already this month I worked two Saturdays as well as a full working weeks. So it's not easy.

I know many people would argue with this and say it's all excuses but it's true. Life is just too much and too stressful and hectic. My diet is good. I drink a lot of water. I favour savory breakfasts over cereal like eggs, mushrooms, spinach, sourdough toast. For lunch I love a beetroot salad. I like a lot of soups too.

There's a whole forum full of enthusiasts:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections

@FluffEars what is your GP actually suggesting? To use Mounjaro or Wegovy by getting a private prescription, or are they planning on prescribing one of those to you? Are you diabetic?

Yes I use Mounjaro. It’s only been 5 weeks and I’ve been really happy with it.

Sorry but you say your diet is good but also say you're a size 20. Your diet is unlikely to be good if you are that size. I am a similar size so I'm not judging but I do think it's important to be honest with yourself. If you're eating soups and beetroot salad as staples, you wouldn't be a size 20 I'm afraid.

The majority of my weight was put on when I was younger. My diet was worse back then.

I am being honest with myself. I don't eat pizzas or chips or burgers or chrisps or take aways. I am naturally like this. I do have a soft spot for chocolate but that's not every day.

A typical lunch for me would be beetroot, carrot, parsnip, spinach, feta cheese. Sometimes some chicken with that.

Or soup. I like soup a lot.

I am being honest with myself.

I have bowel issues so I need to focus on gut health as well and I like yogurts especially the gut friendly yogurts.

I like coffee too.

Like I said the majority of the weight was put on when I was younger and my diet was appalling when I was younger.

I lost about three stone during the pandemic. I did put it back on again over the course of the follow winter which was the lockdown 2020 winter and I will say I was drinking a lot of cocktails at home during that winter so that was likely the root cause of the weight going back on.

However I am not drinking cocktails any more and I am limiting my alcohol (unfortunately I have to for health reasons).

Also my favourite food is a beetroot soup. I am to have that at least once a week for lunch. I make it at home and bring it in a flask to work.

Have you considered Intermittent Fasting? I hadn't really considered it before but my GP has convinced me to give it a go for all the health benefits, not just weight loss

You seem an ideal candidate for the new treatments that are very effective on people with dysfunctional metabolisms. Check out the link above. Follow up actively with your doctor. You will feel so much better when you are 5 stone lighter.

Yep. I've even blocked it! I know it's useful for some, though

Yes, I would love to get more in intermittent fasting. I know online everyone is different. They may fast for X number of hours and pick something like a 6 hour window to eat.

I like to fast for 24 hours once a month but I do it over a weekend but I never got a chance this summer. My schedule was just so busy. I would like to aim for 48 hours and do it more often (once a month).

I feel fantastic after fasting. Hungry and tired but less painful and more fluids in my body movements.

What about the other 6 days a week?

For perspective, your calorie requirements at your BMI will be higher than mine at my BMI of 22. I maintain on just over 1800 calories at 55. Not even remotely tall. Quite twitchy. I eat chips and crisps and the occasional burger. Not pizza because I'm gluten and dairy intolerant. If you ate 1800 calories, you would probably lose weight.

That's what it feels like to my. A dysfunctional metabolism. You would swear I go camp out in Macdonalds and eat there. I never eat from chippers. I do like an Indian takeaway away but that's once in a blue moon.

I gave a sample dish I like a lot above - the beetroot, spinach, feta cheese, parsnips. Other times it might other soups. I really like soups. I am a big fan of vegetables - carrots, parsnips, beetroots - are my favourites. I like celery and apple as well other days.

I don't eat chips, crisps, burgers, pizzas and I don't feel like I am deprived and missing out on stuff. I naturally stay away from these. I don't have an appetite or craving for these.

It might be informative to weigh and log your food with something like my fitness pal for a few weeks, though. Cheese is very good for your but also highly calorific.

I'm on Mounjaro and have T2 diabetes. When I started it 6 weeks ago I was taking 8 units of insulin morning and again in the evening, and 4 x 500mg Metformin daily.

I now take no insulin and no metformin just the once a week Mounjaro injection and my blood sugar levels are perfect. I'm within normal range 98% times compared to 48% time before the Mounjaro.

In addition I'm losing 2-3 lb a week and that's because it's easier to stick to a calorie deficit due to not feeling starving hungry all the time.

I don't have gastric problems normally so cannot comment on that, but I've had no side effects from the MJ besides some low level headaches but that could be caused by the vast reduction in caffeine as I'm not having as much coffee.

Are you diabetic? I thought that was the only time you could get weight loss drugs supplied by the NHS.

I think you must be delusing yourself in how many calories you are consuming. It was only when I started weighing my food that I got the true story about what I eat.

That’s incredible! I’m not diabetic but have been taking MJ for a month and already lost a stone. It’s life changing!

OP I think you’re fixated on burgers, chips etc being the cause of weight gain.

i’m overweight, a size 16, and I cook healthy food from scratch every day. However I understand that I also overeat on that food and snack a lot alongside it - and don’t move enough. If you can’t be honest with yourself about food intake then you can’t fix the problem.

Injections may work for you, but you still need to relearn eating habits so that the skills are there when you’ve lost the weight and come off the injections.

I gained weight due to medication. That's it. It wasn't the food I ate or else I would have been overweight before going on my medication - and I never was. Now I'm obese, not just overweight. It's messed with my metabolism. I'm currently on Mounjaro (private prescription) and I'm finally losing the weight. Nothing else worked before that as there wasn't much i could do naturally that I wasn't already doing.

So if you know your issue isn't anything else you could do, try the injections and see. You can always stop. @FluffEars

How much bread are you having with your soup?

So OP you are definitely eating too many calories because you maintain your weight.
BMI 38 is heavy.
I was BMI 35 when I was a size 18-20. I have now lost 3 stone using the weight loss injections .
It gets progressively harder to lose weight as you get older, it is shocking to see how many calories you should actually be eating . Mine is around 1200 calories to maintain weight aged 46. You need to reduce your portion sizes.
I would recommend one of the new drugs for you despite the gut issues as you desperately need to lose more than 4-5 stone for your health . Exercising will be so more easier!

Being overweight is as much about quantity of food as it is about what types of food you are eating. If you are eating too much of anything you are going to be overweight. It doesn't matter if its chips or salad. It's just much harder to do with salad.

It's surprising how small a portion you really need. I think we've been tricked by restaurants into thinking we need much more than really we do.

Try looking at recommended portion sizes and weighing your food to begin with.

It's normal to be hungry when you start to try to lose weight, but that feeling passes after a week or so. Its just your stomach getting used to a new intake.

Exercise helps but it also makes you hungry so often we eat back the calories that we burn.

I find fasting really helps my gut issues, I do the 16:8. So fast roughly between 5.30 pm and 9.30am but you can adjust it for a time that suits you.

I am doing intermittent fasting using an app called Simple. You can photograph your meals and it works out what you have eaten, which makes tracking food less cumbersome. It also tracks your fasts - for example to get a 16 hour fast in today I need to not eat before 11:48 am.
It's slow, but I am losing weight - 11 pounds in 2 months (but being in my 50s weight loss is harder than when I was younger).

I did try weight loss injections earlier in the year but unfortunately I had to stop as I am one of the rare people who gets severe anxiety attacks on them. And actually I feel really well on intermittent fasting, much less sluggish.

The health risks of being size 22 are substantially higher than the extremely rare side effect of pancreatitis.

The common side effects are constipation and nausea. Both of which are manageable and pass quickly.