Would love to hear any Mounjaro success stories

[Jinxy1979]

Hi everyone.. I’m sure this has been asked before but I’m interested in success stories with mounjaro… starting weight, end weight, total loss, time to goal, did you exercise etc … would love anyone’s success stories :-)

Thanks for the answers for those that didn’t get offended. I asking because it is something I have toyed with a number of times for my own reasons and I wanted an understanding of why people chose this route alongside diet and exercise which should already work on its own.

I guess the biggest question here is, have you ever been successful with just dieting and exercise so far?

diet and exercise which should already work on its own

I think the common factor among everyone I know taking this (ie. those on the MN support threads) is that diet and exercise has never worked on its own for them, and they have struggled for many years and been on many, many diets. Yes it "should" work on its own, but in my whole life, it never has.

I am having counselling alongside the jabs and as preparation I listed all the diets and exercise regimes I've been on over the years. I've been to the gym, I have a peloton, a treadmill and an elliptical, I've lifted weights, done barre, yoga, body pump, aerobics, HIIT, crossfit, run half marathons, done a bi and a triathlon. Diets - I've counted more than 20 that I've tried over the years - keto, low carb, VLCD, 5:2, 16:8, Fast800, blood sugar diet, atkins diet, cambridge diet, slim fast, whole 30, human being diet, vegan, intuitive eating, ideal protein, weight watchers...about the only one I haven't done is slimming world and that's because I couldn't stand the guilt-tripping word "syns". That means on average, I've tried - and failed - with a new diet or regime every year since I was 20 years old. I've never managed to stick to something longer than 8 weeks or so and barely saw any movement on the scales that couldn't be gained back by one misjudged meal (so probably mostly water weight). Sometimes I've got smaller for a while but by the time I failed each time, I ended up even larger.

I started at bmi 27 and my bmi is now 21. Nearly three stone loss since May. Size 14 to an 8. Not as drastic as some losses but I had less to lose.

@YourTwinklyDeer the reason why some posters are frustrated with your line of questioning is that we've all had enough of this general view that it's "just" about diet and exercise. Hardly anyone succeeds at dieting and keeping the weight off long term. No government/NHS initiative to reduce the obesity epidemic has had any success whatsoever.

It's for these reasons individuals are looking at weight loss medication - including the government - NOT because we just want to lose weight.

I follow the 'classic' diet/regain plus extra pattern.

I've just looked at my data:

June 2016 - 193lbs
Sept 2016 - 177 lbs

3 months to lose 16 lbs, and I did it by slowly cutting what I was eating until I was eating 1000kcals per day and doing a ridiculous amount of exercise. Totally unsustainable.

By Jan 2017 I was back to 189lbs

My next attempt was Nov 2021, when I was hospitalised (unrelated to my weight)

I started at 203 lbs (so had gained 14 lbs in the intervening years without really realising)
April 2022 - 186lbs

5 months this time to lose 18lbs - and again, huge calorie restriction, exercise, the whole thing - to the point my hair started falling out and I damaged one of my knees.

By August 2023, I was back at 212lbs

Both of these attempts also impacted in my family, because it meant 'treat foods' menu choices had to be suitable, so hard there, too. I couldn't have a 'bad' day or a 'relaxed' day out - it's all or nothing.

This time I've started at 225lbs (so again have continued creeping ever heavier)
7 weeks in I'm at 201lbs

I've lost 24lbs in 7 weeks, I'm eating between 1100/1250 kcals a day, doing between 20-30 mins exercise, mostly at home.

It's easy. I don't want the chocolate, the roast potatoes, the slices of bread. I don't want to finish the leftover pasta. I can have a slice of cake for my birthday and go right back to the plan. I want to go do the little exercise routines.

That's the difference. Something in the drug is levelling my interest in food to a healthy point, and changing my metabolism so it doesn't fight the losses in the same way.

It's cost me £260 so far, but I've saved half of that back on food and snacks. Best money I've spent

I think people are frustrated because we all know if you stuck to diet and exercise alone it would work. I know there are many reasons why people struggle with that, including myself. I asked a question to find out what the benefit of adding Mounjaro into the mix was so I could make an informed judgement about whether I wanted to go down that path.

In true Mumsnet style though people have to see everything as a reason to try and argue.

I just ordered mine today. I have tried so many diets and they all worked until I fell off the wagon.

Now I'm in perimenopause with autoimmune disease. Once i went on HRT I was never able to lose a single lb. I'm just so tired of trying to fight my cravings for junk food and eat healthily. It's mentally exhausting on top of the physical exhaustion of trying to manage an incurable condition.

I'm so hopeful about the possibility of turning off the food noise.

@YourTwinklyDeer your question is extremely naive which is why you got the response you did. If you're interested to understand what drives people to drastic measures like medication or surgery, why don't you try reading up on the subject - a good place to start is the excellent
"Why we eat (too much)" by Andrew Jenkinson.

Oh I see what you're asking @YourTwinklyDeer

What it added for me was basically liquid willpower. I exercise and eat in a deficit, but unlike before, when on MJ i don't think about food all the time and when I see food I don't desperately want to eat it, all, very fast. I don't feel exhausted and hangry and desperate for snacks or second helpings or a glass of wine.

This helps me maintain that calorie deficit and therefore, weight is being lost without me falling off the wagon or self-sabotaging.

@YourTwinklyDeer Mounjaro acts on your appetite and your levels of hunger. It means you are less hungry, feel full on much less food and feel satisfied for much longer than you would otherwise. Part of that is it makes you totally uninterested in food, which for those of us who snacked and overate is a great benefit.

So it is an huge aid to sticking to eating less, consistently, for weeks and months, because it becomes automatic rather than a constant battle of willpower over intense hunger and emotional responses to food. I just am not focussed on food or eating. I eat at mealtimes because I know I should, but can only manage small meals. I also much prefer healthy choices, protein, vegetables rather than fatty, sugary or carby foods.

Why are you interested?

I started in February. It's coming up to 8 months and I've gone from 21st 4 to 14st 1.

I gym, I walk a lot(16k steps a day average), I calorie count.

I don't think about food 24/7, I don't eat until 2/3pm daily. I do not overeat.

I may be on this medication for the long term but I am happier and healthier than I have been since my young teens.

Let me copy and paste my answer from above and expand a little.

The 'simple' answer to your question would be 'No' but the longer answer would be 'Yes but only if there were no other barriers besides diet and exercise'. Mounjaro removes those other barriers so that we only have to deal with diet and exercise.

That's the difference between those whose only issues are "diet and exercise", and those whose issues are (much) more than just diet and exercise.

If you can just "eat less and move more" and lose weight, then you don't need Mounjaro. If you struggle to do that for any reason (willpower, hormonal imbalance including the GLP-1 agonist, slow metabolism, insulin reistance, etc), then you may need it to help you with weightloss, and you can't do so without it unless you completely starve yourself, therefore forcing unhealthy temporary weightloss.

If your bmi was just 27 how/from where did you get hold of MJ?

As you can see from my username I have in the past worked as a consultant for Slimming World and that was after losing (the same) 4 stone that I had lost and regained regularly throughout my life.

Slimming World/WW worked for me - very very slowly and I spent all of my time shopping/cooking/eating large quantities of 'free foods' like salad and vegetables. Because I was ALWAYS hungry. Even when I was physically full of carrots or whatever, I wanted to eat. I was also miserable.

I'd tried slimming pills (speed) bought from a 'doctor' when I was a teenager. I'd done the grapefruit diet, the egg diet, the cabbage diet, Slimfast, the Cambridge diet, the Dukan diet, the 5:2 diet, the Atkins diet and many more that I can't remember the names of. DM put me on my first diet when I was around 10.

With some I lost weight, but with all I was miserable. And whatever I lost came back on with extra.

At the end of July I weighed 84kgs and (motivated by threads on here) I started Mounjaro. I now weigh 70kgs and want to lose 10 more kgs to be a healthy BMI.

This has been the easiest time of my entire life with regard to food. All of the food noise has gone. When I feel full I feel satisfied and I have absolutely no desire to continue eating. None whatsoever. I no longer crave chocolate, crisps or sweets - if I have a piece of chocolate or a sweet one is enough. I'm not bothered by alcohol and have hardly had any since starting Mounjaro - and if I have then one drink has been enough.

This is how I imagine naturally slim people feel. And it is amazing.

I do parkrun most weeks and am hoping to start to do some resistance training to help strengthen my muscles.

If I can and if I need to, once I reach my goal weight, I will be happy to stay on a low maintenance dose as it is honestly life-changing.

No-one knows I am using Mounjaro - not even DH. As far as everyone is concerned I have been eating smaller portions and exercising - which is exactly what I have been doing. But I need this medication to be able to do that. I'm not ashamed of needing it, but equally I'm not prepared to be judged by others for doing so. But I am so glad I have been able to afford to use it.

Can I ask how you go about getting it? It sounds perfect for me, I yoyo the same 4 stone all the time and I am sick of it! I need the food noise gone.

I am doing strength training while using Mounjaro. I’ve lost 15kg in 6 months and dropped 3 sizes.

Im now able to focus on protein and getting closer to my unassisted pull up!

Head over to the continuing Mounjaro no 22 thread on the weight loss board - lots of support and advice on there.

There are a fair few pharmacies who will prescribe as long as your BMI is 30 or over (27 in some cases depending on your race and other medical conditions.)

Or you can DM me and I'll be happy to tell you who I use and give you a discount code for your first order.

You sound like me and honestly it's the best thing I've ever done for myself - worth every penny.

There's a list of providers here with and without discounts.

www.monj.co.uk

You choose one, complete their questionnaire, submit and checkout. Their pharmacist/prescriber will review your questionnaire to see if you're eligible, then approve or deny your order.

If approved, they'll let you know and your order will be dispatched. If denied, they'll also let you know and your payment will either not go through so will stay back in your bank account or you will be refunded immediately, depending on the provider and how they take payments.

There's also a thread on this board with people's discount codes and links from different providers to get you x amount off your first order. Same process to go through whichever one you choose. It's called "Thread for Mounjaro discount codes" or something like that.

Amazing, thank you, I will check out that thread! My BMI is 30 exactly, so hopefully I can get it. I've gained 1.5 stone since August, I just can't ever lose it and keep it off!

.

Can I ask a question about maintenance phase?

If you have lost all the weight, stop the MJ, then feel the food noise creeping back in - how do people manage it? Presumably you can't buy any more because your BMI is now lower. Any advice? (Please feel free to PM by the way if you dont want to reply here!)

How did you get it (and continue to get it) with a BMI below what is allowed? Surely after your first month you were below BMI 27 and couldn't get it anymore? And you can't possibly cheat a BMI of 22-ish to look like 27.

Certain ethnicities can get it at a BMI of 27, and people with certain health conditions. You can continue to have it prescribed at a lower BMI as long as you qualify when starting. I have just stopped taking it with a BMI of 22.