To feel sad at all the wasted years before Mounjaro

[JudesBiggestFan]

I started on mounjaro a couple of weeks ago. I ca literally see the weight melting off me…cheekbones and collar bones emerging, hands and feet have lost their puffiness. I am calorie counting but I am not hungry at all. I can just eat my allocated meal and get on with my day.
For my entire life I have been chubby. Even as a five year old I wasn’t allowed school milk and was taken to ‘fat clinic’ as my mom called it. The only time I have been truly slim was in my teens when I starved myself until I regularly fainted for a year. I have managed to get down to a size 14 in my 20s but since children I have been between a size 16 and 20 depending on dieting and flare ups of ulcerative colitis which required steroids. I had accepted sadly I was just a bigger person. I resisted mounjaro for ages because I really just didn’t believe it wasn’t too good to be true. But after lots of research, I have taken the plunge. And I really believe that this is the answer. After years of on off dieting, fanatical exercise and knawing hunger/constant battling…it was chemical all the time. All the years of self loathing and wondering what I was doing wrong…and a simple drug can make me slim. Alongside healthy eating and exercise of course. It feels surreal. But it is also messing with my mind and making me ineffably sad about how long and how harshly I have punished myself for not being slim. Has anyone else had this weird mix of emotions? I am 46 and I feel like my whole sense of self is shifting. I’ve always been the funny one to deflect from my size.

I totally agree op.
Literally spent all my adult life trying to lose weight - only after l had dd did the weight fall off me until l went back in the pill then back came the weight.

Been on my since March amd 22lbs down and feel fucking fantastic. Funny you say about the collar bone cos that is where l am noticing it the most.

Yes, if only everyone realised it was hormones that make you hungry. It’s literally Ghrelin in the stomach.

Sure there are a few people (but far fewer than thought) who have disordered eating - but the VAST majority of overweight people had more of the hormones that craved food so ate more.

I wasted 35 years being overweight, I overate by averagely 40 calories a day for that time (I literally fought it every day, did not have a lack of willpower) and ended up 8 stone overweight.

I can only eat 1100 calories a day (I’m short). No one could do that without Mounjaro.

Weight is not a moral failing, it’s mostly a hormone problem.

Me too OP. It's so lovely to hear you're doing so well on it - good luck with the progress!!

Only thing I would say about my own personal circumstances is that my bank balance REALLY doesn't like it. Especially since the war in Iran started 🙈

Im happy for you 😍xx

I totally understand your thinking OP but might it help to reframe the situation as “Aren’t I lucky that wli have become available now so I can benefit and have many years as a slim person and not say in 20 or 30 years time”?

As an overweight female I don’t currently feel like I’m wasting my life. I won’t be taking the fat jabs anytime soon. I’ve not long ran a half marathon. BP, sugars, cholesterol, resting heart rate, HRV - all great. Best of luck to you though.

You didn't waste your life as MJ wasn't available so you lived your life but now it's a new beginning and the start of the rest of your life ☺️

Grab it with both hands and make the changes you need to do to ensure that you keep it off after reaching goal. Fantastic medicine for everyone that takes it!

For me it’s not even the losing weight, it’s not being controlled by the urge to eat, the constant thinking about food, I feel free. The cheekbones and waist are just a bonus!

Yes I think like this sometimes. Lost 2 stone on MJ last year and it has honestly transformed my life. The weight loss has given me the confidence to go to the gym/hillwalk/cycle and stop the reliance on sugar/carbs, my diet is so much healthier and I’m so much more energetic and positive.
it really is a wonder drug and I’m so happy for all the people it’s helping.
ive always been overweight (I’m 49) wish it had been around 20 years ago. Think it’s hard for people who are naturally slim to understand how hard it is to lose weight. I’m trying to keep it off now, it’s not easy but I’m doing it! It’s like a fresh start

I have no skin in this game, never had weight issues, but I do believe that WLI are a bloody wonderful invention and I am glad they are changing so many people’s lives for the better.

I agree! I'm too thin really si the opposite problem but I love hearing stories of people's lives being transformed, discovering exercise etc. Makes me happy for them

Lovely positive comments :)

Aww @JudesBiggestFan I could have written your post. I’m so happy for you! It’s amazing. Just not thinking about food is a revelation for me, or not being able to finish something. Never had that before. Got my ankles back after them being stiff for as long as I can remember.

Like the GreatDownAndOut, I've never had weight issues so don't qualify for WLI but am genuinely delighted for those whose lives they will transform.

I wish there was something for people like me though who also battle constant bloody hungriness so I understand how life dominating it is. Healthy BMI so I don't qualify for WLIs but the constant food noise for the past 30 years is still miserable 😔 and also my poor DH who badly needs to lose his gut but must have metabolism issues because he eats nothing all day, does a manual job and just eats a small meal in the evening.

He basically does a 24hr fast everyday,.doesn't lose any weight and definitely less calories per day than a man his height should be consuming.

Could you + your dh buy it privately online and just fib about your weight? Or do they ask for proof? If you could get it I don't see why it would be wrong if you're paying for it yourself.

Me too. I wasted my 20s and early 30s absolutely despising my body and trying so desperately to lose weight that it became my entire personality. My goodness what a difference mounjaro has made to my body and mind. I know it isn’t perfect, but quite honestly, I’d take the risks over feeling how I felt any day. Currently pregnant with DC 2, so obviously not on it, but to know I’ve got that support with losing after is making all the difference mentally. It’s also helping me to be mindful of what I eat and still exercise which is very different to my first pregnancy. I suppose it’s finally helped me to “value” my body.

I wish I could have used mj 20 years ago when my looks were still important to me, and when I had the energy to exercise and make the most of the weight loss. I am glad I am doing something positive for my health, but yes op I know just how you feel.

How would one possibly calculate to the 40 calories a day? It’s impossible.

Thank you for all the lovely positive comments and solidarity! Yes, I am so grateful it is here now and I can be healthier as I head into menopause and my later years. What a gift. My sadness and conflict is all around the heavy mental weight I have carried around with me for these past years…the times I made excuses not to go horse riding cos I knew I was too heavy, that I wouldn’t go on rides with my kids because I feared I wouldn’t fit, the substandard relationships I accepted because I thought i could do no better. I have built my life around being bigger and I think if this truly works, my head will have a lot of catching up to do. I am profoundly grateful to the scientists though. And so so happy for everyone else on this thread that it’s helping! I can tell you totally get it.

Don't think of it as wasted, OP. Think of all the years ahead of you.

but I kind of understand where you are coming from. My dd went on a medication when she was about 14 that ruined her metabolism even after she stopped. She was overweight right through her teens and early 20s and was really stuck. And on the rare occasions she talked about it it was heartbreaking how much it affected her. I have such respect for her in how much she pushed herself despite hating the way she looked and living in a society that prizes slimness. She went on GLP1 last June and has lost a ton of weight. it is a joy to see her buying clothes for herself because they are pretty (as opposed to because they cover her up), wearing jeans for the first time, feeling so much more confident. I am so glad she has this medication while still in her 20s.

bumptybum

because I was literally counting calories every day for all that time, I fought putting on weight so hard

ChatGPT calculated it for me 😂 It’s literally 8 stone divided how many days in that time = the calories

Well done OP, really pleased for you and think of all the years you have to look forward, you can't change the past.

I know what you mean. It’s about finding what works for you and weight loss drugs are working for lots of people which is great.

finding an exercise I loved is what worked for me.

But I feel a similar grief being late diagnosed adhd. It’s made me realise there are so many things I didn’t need to suffer through that I did. I imagine it’s the same recognition that a certain amount of it was out of your control and it’s hard to accept you were a slave to something for so long.

Has he had his bloods and cholesterol done lately? The BMI requirements are lower with some conditions. I've also heard of someone on here getting it due to waist circumference though I don't know how that works.

@JudesBiggestFan have your UC symptoms improved on Mounjaro? Some Mumsnetters were saying theirs had x