To consider Mounjaro to lose a stone

[Piccalino3]

Before we get started, I appreciate that I may not even be able to find anywhere to prescribe it…..

For context my BMI is 23, but I am a stone heavier in the last 6 months and just feel so shit. I can’t stop eating absolute rubbish all the time due to stress.

I have successfully dieted in the past and lost weight, but peri, going through a very brutal divorce from a horrible man and all the uncertainty it brings, solo parenting 3 young kids (2 with SEN who are in crisis) and trying to work full time just means I have no capacity at all. I never get a moment to myself and am just utterly mentally and physically exhausted. I have the kids 95% of the time as their Dad refuses to see them apart from every other weekend.

I want to feel good again, in my clothes, I want to stop
annoying myself with terrible stress related food choices. My cholesterol is high and this is not helping.

Any words of wisdom? Not even sure I would find anywhere that would prescribe it, I’d much rather rather just lose the weight but just can’t right now.

Words of wisdom please anyone?

At the risk of sounding like a wellness twat, in your situation I would focus on health and nourishment- increasing veg, pulses, wholegrains, decent quantity of protein and healthy fats etc- and just eat as much of these as you want. You may well find that that is enough to get the extra weight off and it will also be the best thing to support you in this difficult time.

You won't get prescribed WLI but even if you could I wouldn't recommend it- at times of stress you really need to make sure you are getting a balanced diet and unless one takes care WLI can actually make that harder- lots of stories of people ending up malnourished because they are reducing the quantity they eat without improving the quality.

I can’t believe you are disregarding the medical evidence - I don’t know who you are but can’t imagine you are a dr or prescriber that has all the info

Thanks everyone for all the opinions.

I do get what everyone is saying, and it’s unlikely I will get to get it, but what some people are not understanding is that I just don’t have capacity/motivation. Even if it takes 10
mins a day. I can’t see to control the emotional eating of sugar and it’s due to tiredness and stress.

A year ago I would have been horrified at what I eat now. I’m veggie so keto won’t work but it’s the sugar that’s causing this and I just can’t seem to control it. I’ve been watching the pounds creep on since about October and soon my clothes won’t fit and I feel bad about myself. I have always been able to bring it back but I’m so so tired. I worry about my health, but have no time to attend to it. Sometimes I just can’t believe this is my life!

Thanks for all those who sympathise. I’ll keep reading, thanks to everyone who is posting. I’m not one usually for a quick fix, and I know there are potential side effects (which would probably put me off). I wish I was someone who stopped eating when stressed instead of reaching for the sugar!

It isn’t sensible at your bmi. Have you considered intermittent fasting? This is easier than calorie counting and will probably help lose a stone

And I am somebody that ‘stops eating when stressed’ - don’t romanticise this, it is not healthy or beneficial either.

Same BMI as me and i’m only just into overweight. You do have to cut calories a lot more as you get older.

Try fasting - dropping breakfast works well for me and takes zero headspace.

You might be better off taking an SSRI anti-depressant. Many find that as the fog lifts, they are more inclined to make healthier choices.

Totally feel for the weight on your shoulders. (I in no way mean to suggest it is in any way simple)

you may just not have the brain space to deal with addressing weight gain right now. Maybe it is for in a couple of months or six months to contemplate. But, contrary to what you expect, it feels liberating once the “tackling” of the problem begins, and not the other way around.

you have so much going on. You might feel bloody amazing to get a hold of this issue, when so much else is beyond your control right now. Calorie counting doesn’t have to be time consuming. For example. I rotated the same three meals for weeks, I just love them and they were quick to get ready.

it is empowering when you get on top of weight gain. It feels horribly helpless when despite desire to lose it, it creeps up even more.

someone upthread mentions team RH. I see his posts and I like it all a lot but I am not doing it so can’t vouch for it.

totally understand the exhaustion and desire for just one thing to be simple to fix. Xx

calorie counting doesn’t have to be complex. I eat the same food daily on my diet which yes is boring; but is easy. I make my work lunches for the week on a sunday and I walk up and down the living room to increase steps. You’ll feel a lot better about yourself if you get the weight under control, might feel like indulging in snacks helps, but it’s just making you feel worse. You can diet without it being complex, swap unhealthy snacks for something less calorific.

Can I ask what you eat?

I eat absolute junk, sugar, along with some of my old diet of healthy things aligned with the ZOE programme - beans, nuts, veg etc. I know how to eat healthily and I like it so it’s not that. It’s just that I’m so overwhelmed with life that I can’t stop the junk and that is what is making me put on weight. I don’t want my weight to be another area of my life out of control and my BMI is usually around 21.

I worry about my cholesterol (always has been high), diabetes and cancer risk but yet can’t seem to do anything about it. I’m just exhausted but single, working full time parent of SEN kids with no family support is where I am. I’m just existing at the moment, that’s not going to change for a while. I just feel shit because I’m getting fat along with it!

BMI is a rubbish tool but you are still well within what it calls the "healthy range" so no, I wouldn't consider Mounjaro.

What would help is not a restrictive diet that makes you miserable but one that moves you away from UPF which could be contributing to feeling pants. Also, get moving more. This could be more and longer outdoor walks, whatever the weather. Do the couch to 5k, go to some dance classes with friends, whatever.

More fresh air, more moving about, eating more nutritious food will all help you.

I'm much bigger than you but have lost a stone in recent months just from stopping drinking during the week and doing more training. I feel better for it, sleeping better, and feeling fitter. I wouldn't consider using Mounjaro because I don't want to lose the muscle I've worked hard to build! I know a fair few people who've used it and they don't always look super healthy on it, just smaller.

The OP can’t get out for walks or go to dance classes because she’s a single parent with 3 children and no other support. There is no one to supervise the children if she goes out.

Better to suggest things that can be done at home, if that’s possible around caring responsibilities.

Sorry you are feeling exhausted and not feeling good about yourself. im not surprised you dont feel great considering the stress you had been going through.
You have a heathy bmi for which mounjaro wouldn't be legally licenced for.so reputable sources wont prescribe,obvious dangers with disreputable sources.
You say you feel exhausted,stressed and have gained weight and are eating unhealthily,this along with your high cholesterol warrants seeing your GP perhaps check for any underlying causes for the weight gain ?
I felt like you 6 months ago (a bit heavier though BMI 27),saw Gp to discuss wether i would be a candidate for GLP1, he did blood tests and i was hypothyroid ....medication sorted the weight gain .
Good luck.

@Piccalino3I’m not going to solutionise for you, if it was as easy as everyone here is saying it is there would be a multi billion pound diet industry, there wouldn’t be a huge uptake of WLI. It’s not physically difficult, it’s mentally difficult. I think it feels so much worse now there is a metaphoric “pill” to take but it just isn’t universally available, I do think it will be one day though.

You can get it legally microdosing - I used it for 9 weeks before Christmas to do just what you say. I used the Healand clinic based on this Guardian article
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jul/12/microdosing-weight-loss-jabs-off-label-glp-1-mountjaro

feel free to PM me any questions

Thank you , I don’t mean to be grumpy, but I keep saying I have no capacity. I would love to go for walks, go to the gym, see friends, cook nice food for myself but I’m so isolated because I have young children, who right now are horrendous to be around, and no one to help.

I understand healthy eating, exercise, prioritising sleep, rest, protecting mental health, but I can’t do any of it. Maybe I’ll get some motivation from this thread, but please do understand it’s not that I don’t know what to do, it’s because I can’t do it.

Hi OP - I hear you. Your life sounds unbelievably hard right now. I completely get you with regards to to having no energy and then reaching for the biscuit ton for a quick boost together with just overwhelm with everything else.

I don’t have an easy fix, I wish I did. I put on nearly 2 stone last year due to exhaustion and stress. I am now slowly losing it. What I can suggest is - find something that keeps your hands busy in the evening when you might be tempted to go for snacks - knitting or crochet are good but anything that keeps you busy helps in my experience.

Trying something like 16:8 dieting can help - you eat fewer meals ina time window which usually mechanically reduces the amount you eat. That way you don’t have to think about good vs bad, you just don’t eat unless it’s your window. I skip breakfast and lunch and only eat an afternoon healthy snack and dinner. It helps that work is so unbelievably busy I don’t usually have time for lunch anyway.

Good luck OP - trying just one habit change and keeping at it can be the motivator to change more but by bit.

If you've got no capacity the easiest way to do it is simply not to give yourself any option - so just don't buy pizzas, chocolate, Crisps etc in the first place. Then when you get cravings the effort of going out to buy them outweighs your desire to eat them.

If you cba batch cooking big healthy meals (although hopefully you cook a bit for your kids anyway?) there are lots of quick alternatives. slimming world micro meals, for example. Or just buy a load ofcartons of soup/nice salads/frozen fish/ stuff for egg/cheese/beans on toast, filled wraps- basically anything that is minimal effort but filling enough you don't get tempted to snack. Things that are as easy,tasty and quick as chucking a pizza in the oven, and actually quicker than ordering takeaways.

That's the only way I can do it anyway-basically make it so my laziness is higher than my greediness!

Other thing that worked for me is intermittent fasting so you only eat within a short window- try say between 10-6 then reduce to 6hrs if you can. You can still eat decent meals but you have 16-18hpurs to properly digest, plus means you "cant" snack so just takes away the thinking about food for most of the day.

When I was a solo mum to 2 kids and at my lowest emotionally/physically, overwight and with very little spare money I used Les Mills On Demand which has so many workouts and you can do them at home. You can pause when kids interupt (as mine always seemed to). I did them in the early hours & occasionally managed 30 minutes before they woke up. They usually offer a free trial so you could try it? I got (sadly) quite fond of some presenters & their encouragement!

That and not buying the foods I knew I would eat when stressed in the evening. Doing anything to stay out of the kitchen. And lots of sugar free jelly.

No magic fix, but I lost some weight & eventually my kids got older & life got a bit easier. Good luck.

Start by addressing the sugar in your diet. I’ve lost 2 stone over the last 12 months through low carb and deficit. I’m not cruel to myself but as I’ve gradually cut out sugars I’ve found I no longer crave them. If I slip up l the craving returns.

I was diagnosed with insulin resistance years ago before it became trendy. And have known for years that it is the root cause of my disordered eating. Once off sugar weight just drops off. My bad foods are bread, cakes and biscuits. Since DH & DS are not biscuit and cake fans I just don’t buy them. We have the occasional treat but when you don’t eat high carbs your body just stops craving them.

Two things I do, I have a big box of nuts that I have a handful of when I start prepping food. It satiates my appetite just enough to stop me picking. Secondly I don’t snack. Any snack I have in the house is one that I don’t particularly like. DS has grown up without unnecessary UPF around so his go to snacks are often protein based rather than sugar based. He loves a brownie but we can have a packet of biscuits in the cupboard for months. He used to carb load as a teenager because he was very sporty but now is very conscious of nutrition so eats mainly chicken or fish. I also fed on demand which means unlike me he only eats when he’s hungry. DH is very similar so I have now aligned my eating habits to the rest of the household.

DS will snack on chicken breast or bites cooked in the air fryer. We are often woken up in the night by him cooking chicken. He’ll have the odd bag of crisps but sugar is not high on his list of cravings.

A couple of weeks of cutting out sugar and you will find that you lose the taste for sweet food in fact ready made foods taste awful. They use sugar to enhance taste and help as a preservative, same with bread that lasts more than a couple of days. I can’t eat sliced packaged bread because of the sweetness.

I understand where you are coming from re life getting in the way. A small change in your eating habits is a start. Once you e controlled your sugar intake levels it will get easier. If you have a history of heart disease and diabetes in the family it’s likely that you have insulin resistance they are all linked. Insulin resistance creates a viscous circle and can create a feeling of constant exhaustion. To the point where after a heavy carb meal you can feel exhausted within 30mins.

Forget calories and start with reducing sugar. It may take a while but eventually you will start to make healthier choices without thinking about it. Once your body is no longer reacting to high sugar load you’ll regain energy and reduce brain fog.

Have a read up on insulin resistance. It’s quite a complex process but once you understand how it affects your eating habits it actually explains how easy it is to get into this cycle.

Like other posters have mentioned, I've found the easiest way to lose weight when you have no capacity to meal plan, exercise or calorie count is to fast. Or in old money - just miss meals. So either have 2 meals a day instead of 3, or the good old 5:2 diet where you basically just don't eat 2 days a week (I know the diet says to prep one beautiful 500 calorie counted meal but the reality is you can have a banana, apple and a bowl of soup for the same effect). Takes no effort or planning, aside from willpower and hunger, which you will experience in whatever way you choose to lose weight. Less risk than taking WLI (especially when you are normal weight).

Oh gosh.
I do absolutely feel for you, but I'm not sure WLI are the answer.

Sensible post. This weight is debilitating OP and from her post she may soon be even more overweight. It’s about risk benefit analysis which only she can undertake as she knows her own life and its difficulties better than anyone else.
While not recommending any particular approach I am aware of friends who went to very reputable providers but exaggerated their weight slightly and underestimated their height. They then made sure the photo represented this.
Not sure if anyone else has posted this but wanted to make OP aware. Will now read through thread in full and apologise to anyone who’s already covered.