Mounjaro / Wegovy with > 5st / 30kg to lose: Thread 2

[VelociraptorsVelociRapping]

Thread 2 of our lovely, welcoming community of MNers using weight-loss injections to lose more than 5 stone / 30 kg.

Hi
I’m coming to the end of my 2nd week and I’ve lost a little bit which I wasn’t really expecting at 2.5 MJ.

SW 108
CW 106.5
TW 78

I’ve been most surprised by the lack of hunger and food interest in the evenings. That’s always been my danger time and it’s just stopped. I haven’t been counting calories but rather I’m trying to listen to my body. I have my usual coffee and granola for breakfast, sandwich lunch has swapped itself for salad or soup and I’ve halved my usual dinner portion.

I’ve poured a glass of wine twice this week and 1.5 have ended up down the drain as I just didn’t actually fancy it. I haven’t eaten crisps ( just realised that!)

We’re off on holiday next week and it’ll be interesting to see how that goes. I’m hoping to get my bonus dose out while I’m away.

30kg seems like an awful lot to lose but I’ve done it before (3 times) using VLCD meal replacement. It turn out I am good at loosing weight, good at gaining weight and not good at all at maintaining weight. This is what I want to focus on this time!

I don't see sharing codes unsolicited as any different to spam, really. So I'm glad Mumsnet is cracking down on it.

Like @KeepingUndercover I don't think it's ethical to offer referral codes on medication. It adds fuel to people who claim it's some dodgy way to lose weight.

I've just done the last dose of my 3rd pen, so 12 weeks in. I've lost nearly 2 stone, moved from an obese BMI just into the overweight category. I'm hovering around a stone bracket and keep weighing myself to see if I've tipped down into the next bracket but have been stuck fighting the same 2lbs for the past 3 weeks. It might be that I had my period, or the losses just naturally slowing, but it is very frustrating! I've booked myself a holiday for 2 months time so hopefully that will keep me motivated. I probably need to be doing more regular exercise but I find it hard to find the time or willpower!

I'm on week 3 and I've realised I could do with some advice on what to eat. I'm a pescatarian, but don't love fish. Currently, a typical day would be as follows:

Breakfast
Protein yogurt, 45g of nutty granola, berries, tea

Lunch
6 oatcakes with half a tub of fat free cottage cheese and cherry tomatoes
Or
Tuna salad with a boiled egg
Or hummus and pitta bread
Or just a protein yogurt

Dinner
Baked salmon, carrots and green veggies
Or two tofu sausages or a tofu steak, carrots and green veggies
Fruit or protein yogurt

Snacks - protein yogurt, fruit or a baby bel

I could do with a few more ideas of what to actually eat. My suppression isn't as strong as it was and I'm feeling peckish....

@thinkfast
smoked salmon and scrambled eggs is a good protein hit
Vegetable frittata (with some Parmesan added if you like it)
Lentil dhal
Thai prawn curry
Tempeh stir fry

Weigh day today. Half a kilo this week, not the biggest but still a loss.

@thinkfast how about mozzarella salad? It's got loads of protein.

I'm having (at risk of repeating myself, sorry!) wholefoods protein shake for one meal - I use this one and find it great, good taste, nothing synthetic! Whizz it up with an apple or some berries, some milk or water, some cocoa or cacao powder, maybe a cheeky spoonful or peanut butter - yummers. And quick, and very filling and hydrating.

Incidentally I think low-fat is always less satiating, while higher-fat (lazy keto) is more filling. I'd do houmous with cucumber, red pepper, celery etc - I know pitta breads always spike my blood sugar more and make me hungry quicker.

There's no one way for everyone, obviously, but in your shoes I'd give it a try and see if it makes the suppression better? Best of luck finding what works for you!

I'm not getting any side effects after switching to MJ except the hair loss has started again.

I used to wrap a normal hair band twice around my hair and it was tight. It slipped out today and I had to do it 3 times. My pony tail is about the size of a 2p.

I'm taking loads of vitamins and supplements and I'm willing it to stop.

I've lost weight this week though as my knickers are much looser

Hi everyone - just had my 2nd shot. 1st week went well though I did have a full on "party all weekend" kind of weekend with lots of tequila! And I'm off to a festival on Thursday for 5 days so who knows what will happen.

SW 123kg BMI 40.9
CW 119.9kg - loss of 3.1 kilos in first week.

GW 85kg 34.9 kg to go.

Very happy with the first week loss though my weight fluctuates by up to 2kilos from day to day so I'm not getting too excited. But yes I am pleased.

I'm enjoying the suppression and I'm trying to eat protein and veggies. The quiet mind is bliss. I don't seem to have any other issues right now apart from not being completely "regular" - but as an IBS sufferer I'm used to that.

I've been reading about how good kiwifruit are for constipation so I'm going to add one to my daily diet and see how that goes.

Also this loaf is amazing for regularity & is delicious - I will make some next week when I am back from the festival
www.mynewroots.org/2013/02/the-life-changing-loaf-of-bread/

Need to drink more water - I always need to drink more water

@thinkfast I've been enjoying cottage cheese with 2 soft boiled eggs and pepper sauce for breakfast. It tastes better than you might think

Feta salad - feta cheese, tomato, cucumber, red onion, oilives (I will often add peppers, cos etc too). dress with olive oil & lemon jouce. I can eat this every day.

Have you made your own pesto? Lots of fresh basil, parmesan or pecorino, toasted pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, season & blitz. (I get all ingredients from LIdl or Aldi) It is delicious on everything and you can alter quantities to taste - we like it very garliccy.

If you can access the zoe website/ap they have amazing plant based/veggie/low meat meals and every recipe I've tried is delicious. Consistantly good recipes & users rate them too.

Getting enough protein is my biggest challenge.

Thanks for the meal suggestions!

Yesterday I had:
Breakfast - cup of tea with milk and a banana
Lunch - brown rice with tofu, broccoli and aubergine
Dinner - jacket potato with baked beans and a banana

This morning I'd gained another 2 lb, which means I appear to have gained a total of 4 lb in 2 days, mid-way through week 3! I can't believe it.

I think this means that my body has evolved to survive periods of extreme famine, and the only way I can lose or maintain weight is to eat tiny, tiny quantities of food.

@thinkfast i am not sure if you are open to critique on that meal plan but if I may it’s very high in carbs and sugar and there is very very little protein. Bananas in particular are incredibly high in sugar - I rarely eat them, and only on very suppression days when I need to get maximum energy out of a smallish portion of food. I try to have protein at every meal. Would you consider supplementing with shakes or clear whey if you are struggling to get it from diet?

I find it very helpful to track what I eat to keep an eye on my macros. It would be interesting to plug yesterday’s food into My Fitness Pal or similar and look at your macros. It could easily be 70-80% carbs.

Thanks - yes definitely open to constructive critique! It's why I posted.

I've been logging religiously on MFP everything that passes my lips since I started MJ. Yesterday came in at 47% carbs. Because my starting weight is so high, my daily calorie allowance on MFP is also high 2,300 calories per day. I'm coming in at less than that each day with somewhere between 500 and 1400 calories remaining each day.

I absolutely agree I struggle to eat enough protein. I don't eat meat and, although I eat fish, I'm quite picky about fish, although I force myself to eat salmon once or twice a week and I also eat tinned tuna. I don't think I could go for protein shakes, but I've been eating no fat cottage cheese and protein yogurts / quark quite often.

What kind of deficit does that calorie allowance give you?

Are you hungry for all three of those meals?

@VelociraptorsVelociRapping yesterday I had a 750 calorie deficit. I was really hungry by lunchtime. I was also really hungry by the time I had dinner, which was around 9pm as I had to work late.

Today, so far I've had

Breakfast: a coffee with milk,
Lunch: small salad with small smoked salmon fillet and two new potatoes
And I'm planning 2 tofu sausages with a steamed carrot and green veg for dinner, followed by strawberries and blueberries.
I was very hungry by lunchtime, and beginning to feel hungry now.

So is 2300 kcal your TDEE or your allowance with a deficit built in? If there is a benefit of very high starting weights (I had one) it is that once you have decent suppression from the medication it is quite easy to create very large deficits.

If you are finding that you are getting very hungry then you need to prioritise protein and swap your fat-free dairy for full-fat to get the satiating benefits of both. Also have a look at your water intake, especially during this hot spell. Many people find they need to double or triple their water intake.

@VelociraptorsVelociRapping thanks for your comments. That's my calorie requirements with deficit built in as calculated by MFP.

I'll take on board your comments about drinking more water. With any luck my recent increase is water retention perhaps caused by the hot weather.

I'm only in week 3 and in 2.5mg; and as that's not a therapeutic dose maybe I'll feel stronger suppression when I move up to 5mg. Fingers crossed!

I find that the calorie allowances given to me by apps are always a lot higher than the amount I eat when I'm actually losing weight!

LoseIt says my target should be 2000 a day to lose 2lbs a week, but even with Mounjaro I'm not only just losing that much each week on a 12-1500 calorie intake.

I'm eating roughly 1500 calories per day, sometimes more, sometimes less, but always less than the allowance that MFP has calculated for me.

I'm hoping the 4lb weight gain the last 2 days is a blip and I'll be back to where I was by tomorrow

@thinkfast 2.5mg to 5mg is the biggest jump in relative terms so you have a good chance of significantly increased suppression when you go up

Taking stock after today’s weigh-in.

3st 4lb / 15% body weight lost since mid-April, when my BMI was 42.3. Today it’s 35.5, agonisingly close to ‘only’ obese rather than ‘severely’ or ‘morbidly’.

I need to decide what to do for my next pen. I am on week 2 of 10mg and I’ve had a lot of side effects up to about day four after the jab. I am thinking of staying on 10mg for another pen.

wow that is a great result @VelociraptorsVelociRapping

You will be "ONLY" obese soon enough 😁

Re ordering the next pen, does your supplier contact you about this or do you need to contact them each time? How far in advance are you ordering them? I'm on Pen 1 and haven;t thought about it. (I'm going through The Family Chemist)

Thank you @RobinEllacotStrike!

I use Bolt Pharmacy and have not received reminders from them - I've had to remember and order ahead myself. I tend to order shortly before my third jab. They do 'starter' and 'step-up' packs of two pens (2.5mg+5mg and 7.5mg+10mg respectively) which I have used up until now as they worked out slightly cheaper but it will have to be individual pens from now on.

OK - so we are effectively self subscribing?
How do we know when to go up a level? I guess that is all down to us to decide.

Do Mounjaro users only do a month on 2.5 & then go up to 5 for month 2? Of if 2.5 works do you do another month on that?

You don't have to go up a dose if you feel like the one you are on is working well. I did 2 months on 5mg, although half way through my second pen I felt it wasn't working as well so that is always a risk. I've just done one 10mg pen and have ordered a second 10mg again as I've got good suppression and really don't want any more than I have. You can always email your prescriber and ask advice if you aren't sure what to do.