So overweight yet I can’t stop eating

[Person246]

I have changed my username for this post. Basically I am massively overweight and obese (weigh just over 16 stone and I am 5”7).

I tried mounjaro for 7 weeks and then gave up.

Eating makes me happy. It makes me feel good. It provides comfort. But for literally the 5 minutes I am eating it.

I don’t know how to stop. Where to start eating better. What changes to make. I know it’s making me depressed but I can’t seem to just get out of my rut.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated 🌷

I tried mounjaro for 7 weeks and then gave up.

Did you not get on with it?

What made you stop taking mounjaro?

I felt like mounjaro was making me anxious (I’ve been taking sertraline for 4.5 years). But it was probably just in my head and I’ve now upped my dose of sertraline. Perhaps I need to give it a go.

Why did you give up on the Mounjaro ?

You have a food addiction, and like all addictions it’s not easy to just quit.

I started on MJ on Nov, am 5 stone (neatly) down, I have also been to CBT to get a better grip on why I eat. Keeping the weight off will be a lifelong battle.

If you have the time hop on over to YouTube and watch this discussion, by the Public Health Collaboration.

Panel Discussion - How to overcome food addiction #PHC2023

It is only 50 minutes and might give you some ideas of where to start.
Best of luck.

It may have made you feel anxious, as you weren’t able to “self-medicate” with food, and had to deal with your feelings without it.

This is such a wise observation.

Why did you stop Mounjaro. You need to get some sort of sensible routine into your eating. I think you should give it another go. And have regular meals and avoid binging.

Have you considered talking to a therapist about this? They may be able to help?

Genuinely I’d focus on dealing with your mind rather than your diet, when you fix one the other will follow. You eat, essentially self medicate, with food to treat your anxiety/depression/feelings, it makes you feel better. Mounjaro took that away from you, and that’s why you felt more anxious, you are always going to feel more anxious dieting unless you do some real mental work on undoing that link you have between food & happiness.

I think Mounjaro was made exactly for people like you. You can't resist eating, you are obese and food noise has literally taken over your life. Please try Mounjaro again for a longer period. You also need therapy because it sounds like you have taken to eating to calm your anxiety so when you take thay away you will feel anxious. You need to find New strategies to deal with your anxiety; walking/swimming/painting ? Something that makes you calmer.

You can do this @Person246. Don't feel ashamed or guilty over your eating disorder. You are not alone ❤️

Have there been times in your life where you've had a healthier relationship with food? If so, what was different?

I'm currently piling on the pounds and I can't work out why I don't have the motivation/will to stop, probably is because I'm not getting much enjoyment elsewhere, but it's likely deeper than that too

Slowly upping the dose on Mounjaro should help as well to find your right level.

Food and emotions are so complex. I hope you find some help with working on your anxiety. I'm using Mounjaro from TribElle, and the person I spoke with was lovely and supportive and answered all my questions.

I think Mounjaro can cause anxiety. I’ve had anxiety for no reason on Mounjaro, but I suffer with OCD already. I think it can exacerbate things.

But, I’ve stuck with it regardless because the feeling of losing weight is addictive. I’ve lost 3 stone since March 1st and when people start noticing, it feels great. I’m almost at my ideal weight now…it didn’t take long.

Eating feels good in the moment, but the misery it causes afterwards, not to mention the heartburn, the discomfort and the embarrassment of looking frumpy in everything is way worse (to me) than the anxiety I feel from the injection. Plus, I’m learning to deal with my anxiety in new ways…exercise for one. Exercise is such a great distraction, and you do feel good afterwards. If I’m feeling a bit worried or stressed, I pop on an intense 5 minute Anabolic Alien YouTube video and burn myself out.

Also what were you eating on Mounjaro. On the days where I eat lots of salad, leafy greens, unprocessed protein and nuts and seeds I feel pretty good. On days where I’ve calorie counted pizza as a quick alternative, I tend to get worse anxiety. I’m still learning.

I’d say give it another go, but change your mindset with it. Healthy food, lots of exercise, plenty of sleep. Deep breathing also helps me through periods of anxiety. Then 3 months on, you’re looking in the mirror thinking ‘wow, I look incredible’ and your debit card is begging you not to spend more money on new clothes.

I'm doing a fasting diet because I find it much easier than just trying to cut out everything I love eating. So on Monday, Wednesday and Friday I eat a very low amount of calories (usually between 500-700) and on the other days I just eat normally. I find myself being more motivated to eat better even on my non-fasting days because I lost weight easily from week one. I also find the fasting days easier than a normal diet because I can just think "it's only for today, tomorrow I can have a bar of chocolate" or whatever.

Low carbing

Doesn't sound like this would work for OP, she has admitted she is addicted to food.

OP, when you used Mounjaro did you lose any weight? If you did, I would urge you to try again.

Give it another go

I think I had 7-8 bad weeks

Now

8 months later down 5 stone

I was a binge eater due to trauma

Two takeaways some evenings

It has changed my life and my approach to food

How busy is your life OP? Could you increase your activity whether that’s working, exercise, socialising (no alcohol or meals) and see if that helps as a distraction?

Youre probably addicted to food which is common. You need distractions where food isn’t available to gently ween yourself off of the larger meals and snacks. I would 100% give the injections another go.

I can really relate, I did similar with wegovy- but it also made me feel really sick, so I ate even more!

James corden said similar about WLI not working for him because his eating isn’t about hunger.

I wish I knew the answer, but i sympathise and wish you well.

Don't be hard on yourself, first of all. A lot of food nowadays is designed to be addictive and makes a lot of people feel the way you do.

If you don't get on with Mounjaro can you speak to GP about alternatives? Even a referral to a dietitian to look at a new eating plan? (not in terms of drastically cutting down on eating, more switching to more satiating foods...)

Good luck OP it's such a struggle!

Try wegovy? I'm on that and currently 3 stone down.

Saxender made me anxious.

I don’t know about WL drugs but I know about food and addiction. I had to research a lot about emotional eating to see why I couldn’t stop, and I explored lots of strategies to work out what was going on. Have you researched your connection with food? There’s a good book called When Food Is Love, you could start there, or podcasts on binge eating and emotional eating.

Also know that the more we eat carbs / sugar, the more we want them. We literally have to starve the sugar monster out. I tried the HBD diet as a “circuit breaker” as I was addicted to snacks etc and I haven’t had sugar in 3 weeks (lost 7kg).

lots of wise advice on here @Person246 💝 you can do it!