Mounjaro August newbie

[OlympicsFanGirl]

Just started.

Would be great to hear from others who are just starting.

First injection was was 28th July. No side effects so far. Appetite is decreasing but not as much as I've seen on other threads.

4 stone at least to lose.

I'm going to use this thread to give myself an online record.

So week one check in done on 2.5 Mounjaro and 3lbs down……….was hoping for more but still a very small dose so hopefully gets better. Second injection done. Deffo felt it wearing off over last two days but only minimal will power required!! Hopefully don’t feel as many side effects this week 🤞 xxx

I’m on same day as you and deffo noticed appetite returning last two days…….hopefully when on higher dose that will improve xxx

I have decided I don’t mind the waning suppression- it’s like taking the stabilisers off to see how you’re doing. I have made healthy choices easily with Mounjaro- yesterday I had to be more mindful of making those same decisions. Like having cauli rice with my curry and no to the bread or eating melon and strawberries rather than crisps or chocolate. The really important bit is doing these and seeing how much better I feel and, with the crutch of MJ, trying to make them the new normal. I know we are only at the start of our journey but I do have eyes on life beyond and this feels like a gift to get me there. I do expect to be on the drug for a year or more to meet my goals and stabilise but certainly atm, it can’t be prescribed forever.

@Addictedtobeauty So true. I also like it when the suppression wears off so you have to exercise more willpower yet Mounjaro just seems to take the edge off it somehow. I also feel like this is a gift and am being really careful to think of life beyond this. I am prepared to be on it up to a year so I don't want to be getting into habits of eating really low calories that I can't maintain just for a quick win now. This really has to be the last time I am in this situation.

I haven’t really been thinking about protein other than making sure to include foods I know to have it in, but I’ve just done a quick calculation on a tracking app and I’ve been coming out about 60 g on my best day, more like 40 normally. I googled how much I should be having and did the calculation for my weight and it’s 75g. I don’t want to get too bogged down by this, I was just curious as I see it mentioned so often, but I am going to try to up it. I thought I was doing well having things like salmon, nut butters, Greek yoghurt, tuna and chickpea salad etc. I think I’m just not eating them in sufficient quantities - will have to see how I can increase.

One of the days I had a protein/ meal replacement shake in the morning as I had some in and thought I’d use it up. That was a quick easy way to boost - especially as the other days I haven’t bothered with breakfast at all. I bought those shakes in one of my weaker moments and didn’t manage more to an a few days on them as meal replacement (I was replacing lunch as don’t typically have breakfast anyway) without mounjaro. But honestly - I’m a little suspicious of all the powders and shakes and supplements that seems to go along with this - ideally I’d want to limit upf and I don’t know how all these powdered this and supplemented that, electrolyte drinks etc - sits with the idea of eating ‘cleanly’. I mean I’ve been doing it because I see everyone else is and I’m very suggestible - but honestly I’d rather get what I need from good food.

It’s also another big expense on top of the medication itself.

How do others feel about this stuff?

@AuntieDote , I have heard mixed things about the protein shakes. Ultimately, I want to move towards eating cleaner so I’m limiting processed things as much as possible. Long term, I want to keep eating that way the majority of the time but with some flexibility. The electrolyte drinks are for if you aren’t getting enough fluids, vitamins and minerals and so far I haven’t struggled with that.

I’ve been planning my meals to be protein heavy and use my tracking app to make sure I hit the protein target. Admittedly, this is because I lose weight off my stomach when I limit carbs and I’m hoping to avoid too much hair loss.

I see the cost of the mounjaro as an investment in myself and don’t want to waste it by undoing all my hard work afterwards. You have to find something that works for you and that you can maintain for the rest of your life. I’m using the days where I’ve no food noise to move towards my new normal.

@auntiedote 100% agree it's better to get protein from whole food sources. Protein bars for example are full of sugars/sweeteners, and you have to be careful to get a protein shake that uses stevia rather than aspartame for example. I have Free Soul protein powder which is ok, but I don't particularly like the taste of protein powders in general!

@AuntieDote
I agree it is best to get protein from natural sauces. I get most of mine from chicken breasts, eggs, greek yogurt, fish and tuna. I plan my meals in advance to find out my protein levels and then and only then will I top it up with a PHD Diet Whey which are low in sugar compared to a lot on the market. I never eat protein bars or other snacks and steer clear of the ready made protein drinks/snack bars in places like Aldi. A lot of the ones you see in the supermarket are just gimmicks, snacks pumped with sugar but drawing people in by emphasising the protein.
Many, many athletes and people who are into fitness will supplement with protein powders. I go for a max of 1 a day.
I'm not sure how old you are but is really important to get enough protein in our diets as we age as we use a lot of muscle mass which is the cause of a slowed metabolism and weight gain in middle age. One of risks in eating low calorie is loss of muscle mass, this happens whenever you lose weight but you need to reduce that loss as much as possible with weight training and protein.

When I am eating well, I use whole foods for protein, mostly meat, fish and eggs. I also add seed toppers to salads and I love a bean chilli or lentil Dahl. I use Greek yoghurt or hoummous as a base for marinades. I do like all these foods so it’s just a way to manipulate my diet to meet the protein goal. I’m 51 so need to be careful to protect muscle mass. In the past, I have supplemented with Fast 800 vegan shakes (I don’t like the idea of whey protein but pea orotein sounds okay-irrational, I know!). They advertise themselves as being made of natural ingredients and they are nutritionally balanced (to favour a lower carb diet. I have some left so will use them up at some point.

Day 4 for me and I'm feeling rather shaky after having such a bad stomach Wednesday night and not wanting anything yesterday. I've cautiously had a weetabix and banana in the hope that will do the trick. Fingers crossed 🤞

At this point I'm pleased to eat anything, let alone some protein...

Well done!!! Xxx

I’ll be honest I have a protein works meal replacement shake for breakfast because 99.9% of the time I would have skipped breakfast so easy way to up protein. I also use protein puddings and mousses as because of who I work for I get them free xxx

Day 3 following the injection for me.
Appetite suppression not as strong today but still there somewhat.
But what I am finding is the bloat is building.
I can eat a normal to large sized healthy portion but 20 mins after finishing I am getting a real feeling of fullness where it is uncomfortable. Not to the point of feeling sick but it feels like as others have described it on here (the feeling after xmas dinner)
Think I need to eat slower and reduce my portions a bit.

That was how I felt on day 4 after being ill day 3.
But I managed a sandwich and some noodles last night and felt really bloated all day. But had been very hungry.

Today, day 5, I’ve so far only had an apple. Hunger feel suppressed again.

Scales say I’m 4lb lighter. Although I need to recalibrate them as they are 3lb out. (So I may have actually lost 8lbs).

Anyway, I have another motivation to see this through that I can’t say out loud or share in the RL (no-one to share it with). My estranged father has been in touch and invited me to go and visit him. It’s been 20 years since I last saw him, we just lost touch. It did pick up, then dropped again.
He lives abroad and I really don’t want to be a hot, fat, sweaty mess when I see him again. So this will spur me on. Do I dare shop for smaller size summer clothes yet?

This is my day 4 and I feel so much better today thank goodness! The fatigue was the pits especially yesterday. Today I feel back to my normal, still got the suppression and I was in Morrisons without being tempted with rubbish.

@Usernamechangeforthis12 that's exciting news! I'm in two minds about buying new clothes - is it going to demotivate you if you can't wear what you buy, or is is having it hanging on the back of the door going to give you incentive to keep going?

I just reweighed myself as I was sure I’d lost a little more so it’s actually 4 pound loss in a week 😍

Finally injected myself this morning with my first dose 2.5 mg. It was very simple and I'm just so relieved. This morning I woke up thinking Iv'e got to go through this every week but now I'm not worried.

Starting weight : 16 stone 12 pounds
BMI : 37

I haven't eaten yet today as I usually start around 3pm with intermittent fasting, but feel fine so far, maybe a different story tomorrow we will see.

Well done @MissFancyDay on taking the plunge. I was really nervous before but now very happy I took this first step. Injection 2 for me tomorrow so weigh in as well. I feel really calm about it- I’m here for the long game.

Thank you, I worked myself up a little yesterday questioning everything, but today I'm fine. Just excited and positive. Good luck with your weigh in.

I'm itching to get started but royal mail are useless. My order was supposed to be delivered yesterday - the tracker says they tried but no one was in. I never left the house and no one tried to deliver anything. Scheduled for delivery today and it's still not arrived. Getting annoyed. Is the injection still ok when it's been in the delivery system for days?

Interesting about the protein powder/ shakes etc - thanks for your thoughts all. I’m going to use up the pack I have as and when I feel I need an easy way to up protein, then have a think about whether to invest in a more natural ingredient version or how else I can get my protein up. I don’t really want to eat more meat - I only recently started eating meat again at all and ideally wanted to reduce it to very occasional but it’s creeping up! I need to get more eggs in, I just find it hard to fancy them these days (flashbacks to my Atkins years!)

Today has not been the best clean/ health wise. I didn’t eat breakfast. I took DD to the morning showing at the cinema with a friend and her little girl, DD had a small portion of popcorn and a packet of magic stars chocolate - normally I pick at whatever she gets if not get myself something too, but wasn’t even slightly tempted. Then there were various summer activities going on in the town centre so we had a mooch about and suddenly the girls were starving and lunch was needed immediately! Friend’s DD is quite limited in what she’ll eat so we went with McDonald’s - I chose the chicken Caesar wrap, side of cucumber sticks and a water. 403 calories, plus a few for the cucumber. Felt so full afterwards and could quite happily have not eaten the rest of the day.

We’ve had in-laws over for dinner this evening - they requested DH’s homemade pizza which he does just literally with flour, yeast and water and then makes own tomato sauce and various toppings. I served big salads with it and mostly ate the salad (including a chickpea and tuna one), with two tiny slithers of the pizza (which I furtively weighed before serving myself!) I also made a no-added sugar apple and blackberry crumble with fruit from the garden, which others had with ice cream and I had a spoonful with a little Greek yoghurt. I really didn’t need the crumble but I wanted to taste it as it’s genuinely one of my favourite things!

I ate it all quite easily but feel so stuffed now, like I’ve had a full day of pigging out. I’ve religiously weighed and tracked down to the splash of milk in my tea, and I’m still at 950 calories. I can’t possibly eat anything else today I’d burst. So once again I’m under on protein.

I definitely need to focus on eating more protein less carbs, but in a way this has been a good education in fitting normal family/ social life into the lower calories. I think I’m going to have to start eating breakfast as I’m not going to get my calories (I want about 1400 to ensure this is sustainable once I’m off the medication) or protein in.

Oh also on the subject of protein - I saw this recipe for a homemade protein shake today which I might try tomorrow - apparently it contains about 20g protein.

Day 5 - can def feel my appetite coming back in. I'm heading out of town tomorrow for work so think I'll take the next dose either tonight or first thing before I go, and then reset my injection day for Saturday. On protein - I'm bringing a bunch of clear whey sachets with me so that I know I can keep my protein intake up whilst I have less control over my food when I'm away. I think that's what they're good for - a 'top up' of what you're getting from other source. Like today, despite having had greek yog, duck, tofu and chickpeas, I'll still have a whey drink to take me over the line.

Haven't weighed myself yet, a bit scared in case none of this has had any effect...

Looks delicious but I doubt 20g protein unless you add protein powder ?