Mounjaro / Wegovy with > 5st / 30kg to lose: Thread 4

[VelociraptorsVelociRapping]

Thread 4 (!) of this lovely community. Anyone using weight-loss injections to lose more than 5 stone or 30kg is very welcome to join us.

No discount codes, please - these need to go in the dedicated thread on this board and they will be deleted.

I don't like kiwis, but do seem to be a bit constipated - which I am flipping amazed about! I've had quite severe IBS for more years than I can remember and it's really limited my life over the past few menopause years re: not being able to be too far away from a toilet.

So this is very strange indeed...! I'm not even sure what normal is re: 💩, but I didn't go at all yesterday, which is just so bonkers for me (anywhere between 2 - 5 times is 'normal' for me!).

Ahem. Sorry - way TMI... I'm just trying to get used to the fact that this is only week 1 day 3 for me and already I feel so different and my body is certainly reacting differently.

Yes I must admit when I read the headline my first thought was relief, as my BMI is currently over 40 and I have multiple chronic health conditions, which I've had all my life, even when 'just' overweight, but have definitely contributed to not being able to lose weight (PCOS, no thyroid gland amongst other things), so I was/am hopeful that I may well be able to get Mounjaro on the NHS at some point in the next year or so - I'm happy to pay for it if it continues to make me feel the way I am at the moment, but my salary would thank me if I could transfer to the NHS...!

I've just read a couple of documents on the reclassification story, and although my first assumption was related to cost I don't think this is what is happening here. It's a global report with input from numerous countries who don't have publicly funded universal healthcare.

It is saying that obesity needs to be reconsidered as more than just BMI. There are people with apparently normal BMIs who nevertheless have dangerous levels of visceral fat and other comorbidities, and there are people with apparently obese BMIs with no associated health concerns. Under current guidance, the former group would have no access to GLP1 medications, whereas the latter group would be eligible but it might be an unnecessary treatment for them. It's about addressing over diagnosis and avoiding unnecessary treatment through the new classifications of 'clinical obesity' and 'pre-clinical obesity'.

Currently the NHS is only prescribing to those with severe obesity + weight related medical conditions. I don't think changing the language they use to define those eligible will change the (lack of) resources they have available and who gets the priority access to the medication first via the NHS. It will just be worded differently.

Voy are awful guys avoid at all costs

They just charged me twice

Fck sake

@BingoWingsOverScotland I wasn't doing to badly on just the MJ, but then I was taken off HRT and given another medication which has constipation as a side effect. That has tipped me over the edge.

🥝🥝 a day (and a pomegranate) seem to be working very well for me, but I can't seem to eat 🥝🥝 every day.

@MooBaggage I've also got IBS with similar issues to you in terms of frequency (although on bad days up to 8 is 'normal'!). I've been on MJ since August and fairly immediately it seemed to reduce the frequency and I've actually had mild constipation a couple of times. It's one of the side effects that is actually quite beneficial for me! I do find I need to keep up my water and fibre intake or my digestion slows too much and is uncomfortable.

so I had a protein rich lunch today - 2 x eggs and 2 x sausages with some spinach and cherry tomatoes and I feel very uncomfortably full... I think 1 x egg and 1 x sausage would have been much better. I wasn't particularly hungry, but haven't got the hang yet (only day 3!) of exactly how much to eat without feeling overly full. How long did it take everyone to figure out exactly how much to eat?

My partner's coming round for tea tonight and cooking - he knows I've started on MJ but it will be a bit of a change for him too, as we're both big eaters usually, and right now I don't even want any tea...

@MooBaggage you need to slow down your eating and follow your body’s hunger cues. You must have really had to force that down.

@MooBaggage you are going to be eating a lot less, in both calories and especially volume (which in itself reduces calories).

If I have a late lunch I often don't want dinner and will just have fruit and greek yoghurt in the evening.

Its not the Mounjaro that causes you to lose weight but the calorie deficit it causes due to MJ reducing appetite and slowing down stomach emptying. You are going to be eating much smaller meals and those meals will stay in your stomach longer.

I went on an "all inclusive" holiday with a wonderful buffet on week 2 on MJ. Massive fabulous buffet - I had a small side plate of food, (protein & salad/vegetables), for each meal.

I do think many side effects experienced on MJ are either from overeating, or eating foods high in processed carbs. So my advice would be to avoid carbs (though many on MJ continue to eat them, bread etc has simply disappeared off my radar and I dont care at all about it) and eat much less in quantity - you can always have more if you are hungry a bit later on.

Thanks both - really helpful! I will make a better effort to not 'just eat' - I'm not a massive carbs person anyway, as am Coeliac and gluten-free stuff just isn't at good! I have no inclination now at all to snack - don't care already about sweets/crisps/biscuits - and didn't even have any wine last night (my Mum was round for dinner and nearly fell off her chair!), but the portion sizes are blowing my mind - I just need to get my head around the fact that I don't actually want/need to put as much on my plate as I have done in the past.

@RobinEllacotStrike you were absolutely right that today would be the day the pain really settled in. I've been taking painkillers and wrapping myself in my heated blanket to get through the working day, this evening I will soak in radox I think,

@MooBaggage I still don't get it right all the time. Sometimes I'll mindlessly eat because something tastes good and then I get that too full feeling a few hours later. I also find what I can eat varies throughout the week so some of it is a bit hit and miss for the first few weeks. I find highly processed food like sausages quite hard to digest. Everyone does things differently you'll find your new normal you are very early on still.

Personally I like to aim for three 400-500 calorie high protein meals a day. Not eating or trying to fast and have one meal a day has always caused me to binge so spreading my calories out evenly works for me. But you'll figure out what works for you.

I structure my eating a bit like this, it's not 100% the same every day but I do like routine so it's fairly similar.

Breakfast I've never been a fan of so I have 2 tassimo skinny lattes which is 100 cals

Lunch - pot of batch cooked mince or stew. Basic makeup is 500g meat, packet of pre sliced mushrooms, packet of pre sliced carrots, packet of pre sliced onions, tin of tomatoes, seasoning packet - chilli/casserole/enchilada etc that make 4 portions at around 250 cals each.

Dinner - meat and veg like pork loin steak, broccoli and baby corn or chicken breast with sugar snap peas, green beans and asparagus. That's usually around 400-500 cals

Then for snacks I'll have beef jerky, cottage cheese, babybel, Greek yoghurt etc as needed

I usually have a couple more lattes or Emmi protein iced lattes too.

So generally come in around 1200 calories a day.

Oh and yes I am such a lazy cook that I buy ALL of my veg from the prepared section of the veg aisle and just literally empty it into the slow cooker. I don't make anything that requires more than 5 minutes effort, it just does not interest me.

Moobaggage.

I've found that in general I'm eating around 1/4 to 1/3 of what I used to eat, depending on the meal. I don't eat meat/fake meat/eggs so it's all about the veg/lentils/pulses/cheese/fish for me.

Tonight we had halloumi in a sweet pepper sauce served with a brioche bun, salad and potato wedges (my teen was cooking). I had half a block ish of halloumi sliced, the equivalent of a potato turned into wedges, 1/3 little gem lettuce, 1/2 red pepper, some salad sprinkles, grated carrot and I probably ate 1/4 the brioche bun. I would have happily eaten a LOT more than that pre MJ.

Jab and 'official' weigh day today and a new 'starting' number down to 11st13.9.... I'm a daily weigher and I'm sure I'm not safely under yet but still a result

Today marks end of week 26 so 6 months in and have just 5lbs to go to be 5 stone lost and 10lbs off reaching healthy BMI.

Well done, you must be chuffed to beans! Goal in sight!!!

@MooBaggage
I found it really hard to know how much to eat and when to stop. I decided in the end to just serve myself portions that were 1/2 - 2/3 of what I used to eat and then wait a bit before deciding whether to have any more.

That helped a lot - I very rarely carried on eating but could happily finish my plate, which is a very ingrained thing for me from childhood. Now I do sometimes leave food if I remember to think about what I'm doing when I'm eating.

This is the worst thing about learning as a child to finish your food - an empty plate becomes the sign of having enough and the end of the meal, rather than how your body feels.

Also seconding the helpful properties of kiwis - did not know that about them until this thread so hat tip to @RobinEllacotStrike

Btw when is the next Strike series coming out - I keep seeing ads encouraging me to rewatch the last one which is usually a sign I think..

@gimmemounjaro have you watched The Ink Black Heart? 🖤 It was on bbc in December & is on iplayer now. All the Strike tv adaptations are currently on iplayer.

I guess the adaptation of The Running Grave will take at least a year. It's not in production yet (possibly not commissioned yet?)

The next book - The Hallmarked Man - is now on pre order but won't be released until September or October.

I've gone back to the beginning & I'm currently listening to The Cuckoo's Calling (again) on Audible along with the accompanying reread podcast The Strike & Ellacott Files. I might be a bit obsessed. I try & read other things but it hard for a book to grab my interest the way this series has.

That is amazing - well done!! It's things like this that is giving me hope - fantastic achievement!

I think this is essentially the major lesson from Mounjaro & one that will be vital to learn & hold lifelong.

If we don't want to regain everything, if we don't want to continue the gain loss cycle we need to really learn & embed the truth that we need to eat less. A lot less.

To maintain a healthy body weight we need to eat much much less food than we have been eating. The "normal" amounts of food we are used to are not "normal" but excessive. Everything has been skewered through a prism of excess. Watching tv last night the messaging around food is subtle but constant- normal sized "healthy" people constantly snacking, eating sweets etc. It simply isn't a true representation of how healthy weight people eat. It makes us feel like there is something wrong with- "everyone else can eat what they want & be ok". It's not true & it's not ok.

It's vital to really learn we need less food & good quality food.

It's also super important to realise the huge impact and influence of food manufacturers which are some of the biggest companies in the world. So much ££ is made from processed low nutritional value food. So much ££ spent on marketing convenience & junk food to us. We are told over & over that eating highly processed food diets is normal. Our culture gets entwined with it all. No wonder we feel overwhelmed & lost with it all (or at least I feel overwhelmed & lost in it all).

Oh dear! 😅
Hope things are easing a bit today.

Don't let it put you off. When j got back into regular exercise last July I went so slowly. But I did improve really quickly. I started out wanting to throw up every time I bent forward but soon settled in.

It's important to remember there is no rush. Time will pass anyway. Better to go gentle & often.

Ooh @RobinEllacotStrike well I thought I had seen TIBH a while ago but maybe I am getting confused with reading it! I will have a look. I love the books and happily watch the tv adaptations, have read/seen them all.

Love Holliday Grainger and she has become Robin when I'm reading, but Tom Burke has never done it for me and has not become Cormoran in the same way 😱

It's kind of like the real Robin agreed to star as herself in the tv show but the real Cormoran refused, so they had to get Tom Burke to do it 😂😂

Tbf Cormoran probably would refuse 😂

Apologies for the derail!