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.

This is post no 976 on this thread, so I have started the third thread ready for when this one is full

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5183561-mounjaro-wegovy-with-5st-30kg-to-lose-thread-3

"I think suppliers are struggling with the amount of returns and having to bear the cost to provide replacements".

It will be us as consumers who cover the costs of replacements - they will simply put the price up if they need to to cover excessive returns.

If the medication really is that temperature sensitive, maybe we need to be collecting it from local pharmacies instead of having it delivered by post/courier?

I use The Family Chemist and haven't had any issues with delivery (yet).

Funny day yesterday. It started off so well with an early yoga class, a sea swim and then a beachside sauna. Really felt like I was living the dream - felt fantastic especially as I am starting to notice the difference from the increase in exercise over the last 2 months - feeling stronger, more flexible & mobile, which in turn makes me feel younger and healthier.

Very busy with work so at lunch I had some homemade leek & potato soup and half of DD's leftover cheese quesadilla made with seeded wrap, cheese, chilli sauce.

Well I spent the rest of the day with hideious indigestian and feeling dreadful. It's the processed carb/fatty cheese combo I am sure - I have zero tolerance for them now.

The potato in the soup might have been a step too far on itself but the wrap was the end of things. I'm still not feeling great this morning.

Its funny as I would say 85% of my excess weight is caused over the years by processed carbs (the rest by cheese & butter). So its like my body on MJ is rejecting exactly the foods that casue me to overeat and be overweight. I've not been interested in butter or cheese since starting MJ.

My second pen I've just finished arrived warm (ish) but was still effective. I wonder if the cold thing is less of an issue than first thought?

Don't they get stored out of the fridge once the first jab is done anyway? So about 3 weeks out the fridge.

Yes, I think it is only really an issue if someone wants to store it for another time, it is Ok if they want to use it straightaway.

So week 1 and I have lost 2.5kg. My SW was 133kg and I dont have an end goal yet- setting one would be unrealistic as I have a LOT to lose. Instead my first goal is 113kg which is what I weighed earlier this year when I got taken into hospital with sepsis.

Yes, there have been side effects but these have been mainly minor. If I had a gallbladder (I don't, it got taken out earlier this year when it tried to kill me) I would probably have been very constipated by now. Still early days so just carrying on as is.

something I need to express

I first did Weigh Watchers at about age 18 - I went many times over the years. Also in the UK I went to Slimming World a couple of times.

From both these groups I took onboard the idea that vegetables are "free" foods - you can eat as many as you want without counting the points or whatever they were using (apart from potatoes, peas, avocados and carrots which of course are filthy calorie hoarders and must be counted) .

Over the years my brain somehow interpreted this as "vegetables arent real food - they don't count". I know this isn't true - but I can't shake it off. Its like a form of brainwashing that was very damaging to me as it encouraged overeating. It has been a strong factor in encouraging and exaserbating overeating ever since.

Its also frustrating as I love vegetables and can happily eat them - its just when I do my brain is telling me to add calorific things to be sure I get some "real food".

Now I am 57 - I've just made myself a salad for lunch, and eaten half of it. My brain is STILL telling me that only the avocado and pesto "count" as "real food", and if I do prepare a salad for lunch it must be GIGANTIC to satisfy me. All nonsense.

How do we shake off this indoctrination? I can tell you its nonsense, I can tell myself its nonsense, but I feel like I need to deprogramme my brain of I will fall straigh back into damaging wasys post MJ..

anyone know what I am on about?

Well to a degree this is the basis of volume eating - max out on low calorie foods.

If the base of your salad is lettuce, salad leaves and things like that it'll be pretty difficult to overeat on them.

Oh yes I totally get that concept.
But its how it manifests over time that is the problem.

I've eaten my salad, I am full and satisfied. I've probably eaten a bit too much and would be more comfortable with less. But something inside keeps tell me its not really food and I should eat more.

These ideas are not great if you have a tendancy to overeat.

Can you work with a. Therapist alongside the jabs?

My mum has encouraged me to do something with slimpod but the premise of that is "you can eat whatever you like" which I don't really agree with

I did some therapy/reprogramming a couple of years ago with Gillian Riley - she also says "you can choose to eat whatever you want". I get this. Its an empowering concept - I don't have to eat or not eat anything.I have free will and free choice and I can choose to eat foods that will keep me right here, overweight & unhealthy with sore knees and joints heading towards a life of immobility and obesity like my Mum, or foods that will empower me and drive the postive changes I want to make in my life.

But what my brain hears is "eat whatever you want" "eat whatever you want""eat whatever you want""eat whatever you want""eat whatever you want".

I guess I need some more therapy around food & overeating to reprogramme things. I've done a bit of work in therapy over the years and changed many things in my life, but issues around food seem to be cemented solid.

Or I could take MJ forever, which is probably a lot more effective.

Maybe this is associated with an ADHD brain (which I possibly have but none of the therapists I've worked with over the years have ever explored or suggested this so maybe not).

I think for certain people these concepts of "free food" and "you can eat whatever you like" are very useful, liberating and meaningful.

But not for everyone - for some people they can make things a lot worse.

@RobinEllacotStrike totally agree! Along with the whole labelling of foods as good or bad. Whilst my body is clearly suffering from insulin resistance etc, so much of my diet is governed by my head and the habits I have learned over my considerable years on the planet. My instant reaction to the look of disgust on my mother's face when I ate certain things was to have MORE of them! Society's 'diet messages' have well and truly done a job on my brain over the years! (Not the low fat bullshit! I always reckoned that was crap! 😁)

@IReallyNeedThisToWork ah the old "food as rebellion" issues AKA "fuck you food". Gosh its complicated but also so scarily primal.

Yes I managed to shake off the low fat bullshit too, and also the concept of good/bad food I now have no issue with.

These other ideas have somehow attached to me more powerfully.

@RobinEllacotStrike I reckon more of a 'fuck you mum' case for me but the same end result! 😂😂😂

Reading some stuff on intuitive eating was quite useful for me dealing with the good or bad foods stuff.

@RobinEllacotStrike

I really like Gillian Riley, I think you just need to reframe that a bit. Instead of 'I can eat whatever I like' I think it's more about being scrupulously honest with yourself about exactly what you are choosing. 'I can eat whatever I like, but I need to bear in mind...' - so yes, you get the momentary pleasure, but also guilt, shame, disappointment, regret, anger, physical discomfort etc etc, however overeating makes you feel. It's not so much about the potential weight gain imo.

Or you can choose not to have that food right now and experience increased self-esteem and a nice feeling that you are in control of what you eat instead of the other way around. And with every moment of restraint like that, you are escaping from the hold these foods have.

I believe GR's thing is not to have anything that's forbidden, because if you do, rebellion is inevitable. So any choice is perfectly valid as long as you fully understand and acknowledge all aspects of it.

@gimmemounjaro yes some reframing might help. And having that dialogue with myslef repeatedly too.

GR's focus is not at all about the weight loss - so while her ideas were fantastic I didn't lose any weight with her methods and slowly let it all go. But I will dig out my notes as I think her ideas might be very useful for keeping weight off.

I'm finding the effect of the meds quite useful in trying out foods I would normally over indulge in as now I am happy with just a bit, previously I would be eating the lot!

I know exactly where you are coming from with this. I've found it incredibly helpful to read up on/research the macronutrients of vegetables (and fruit) and this has helped me 'reprogram' my my brain and to acknowledge the tremendous benefit my body receives for each plant/herb or fruit I include in my diet 😀

A NSV I just wanted to share... I've just done my apron up at the front, after wrapping it round, rather than at the back.... first time in a very long time I've been able to do that!

That’s a great one @SilenceInside!

I have been enjoying being able to cross my legs properly again.

@VelociraptorsVelociRapping Oh my god, I can do that too now!
I haven't done that in a long time, my belly has been in the way for a long time.

NSV - I WFH and for the first time in ages put on my lighweight down jacket I wear at my desk when its cold. It stopped closing over my boobs about a year ago. It not only buttoned up properly today, I had wriggle room for the first time in years!