Mounjaro, 10st or more to lose.

[BookishBabe]

Hello fellow mounjaro users or people thinking about starting. I have seen there is a thread for people needing to lose 5 stone plus, but even there I felt a little bit big.
I need to lose 12 stone, and even then my BMI would be 33.
Alot of people seem to be starting mounjaro with a starting BMI of 33, so I think it sometimes feels better to be among people who have the same amount to lose, 12 stone feels so daunting and scary. It's going to be a long battle.

This is my final chance before weight loss surgery, which I really don't want to do or risk.
I am 32 years old and have 2 young sons (7 and 5), one is disabled and the other is struggling and is on a reduced timetable at school. They need me to be around for a very long time and at the moment I feel like I am failing them.

I started calorie counting/a calorie controlled diet last Monday (2nd December). I was thinking about putting it off because of Christmas, but I can always come up with an excuse, so I decided to just go for it.

I weighed in at 27st and 7lbs.
At 5 ft 8 that gave me a BMI of 58.5!!!

I had some blood tests in March which showed I was prediabetic, I have done precisely nothing since then to do anything about it and have buried my head in the sand!

My mounjaro was delivered Tuesday afternoon and I took my first jab on Wednesday morning. I think its working slightly now, but I didn't feel any different for the first 3 days, but I'm either used to eating less (unlikely in 7 days) or the mounjaro has started to take effect.

So, one week in, calorie controlled diet every day, trying to get lots of protein, drinking loads, a few days of mounjaro in my system.

Weigh day time,

drum roll

26st and 11lbs!!!! 🥳

10lbs gone. I am very happy with that. I used to be able to lose 15lbs in a week when I was younger, but I was much more active back then and thanks to being so overweight I do struggle with activity.

BMI is now 57! So I've lost 1.5 on my BMI. Fingers crossed I can keep this going, I just need the number to keep going down! I'm really hoping I can be in a healthier and happier place with myself.

So, long post over.

Does anyone with 10st or more to lose want to join me here?

I know its daunting but I think if anyone feels like me, this is probably our last hope before surgery and our health is probably starting to decline or already has due to the weight we have on our bodies.

Christ no, the colour is spot on to make it even more user friendly.
Despite using it daily for 20 odd years, my tech knowledge with excel is pretty basic. My weight loss tracking one does the job, with some very basic formatting and a graph that I somehow set up years ago, but all the IF type formulae are a bit beyond me. I did a day's training last year and was swinging wildly between oh that's how that works and nope I don't get this at all!

That's the problem - people do a whole day course, learn 30 things and 28 get forgotten! I'm teaching excel to some colleagues at the moment - 45 minutes a week. So each time we do a new thing or build on a previous one that they can actually put into practice that day.

I am so nerdily passionate about Excel!

@JusteanBiscuits that's a fantastic spreadsheet....I love them too. I have a necklace that says #plannerbitch from my kids because of it.
I will save this one down 💙💙💙

Oh I love a bit of snazzy excel! Thank you @JusteanBiscuits it's beautiful!

Suddenly realised it was set up for my height for BMI. I've now added a height box beneath the graph so it will correctly work out BMI if you're not short 😂

Hi, I started on Wednesday with my first jab. My start weight is 368 pounds, so I'm really hoping this works as I've dieted on and off for 30 odd years and this is the heaviest I've been.

@2cantkeepasecret hi 👋 nice to see a new starter, and good luck with everything in this first week!

Welcome, you’re in the right thread, most of us have a very long history of dieting failure and a lot of weight to lose. For the first time ever I have consistently lost weight and feel hopeful that I can continue. Good luck 🤞🏻

Hope is such a good word isn't it. I'm. On my 6th jab tomorrow (and a bit nervous) but beginning to allow myself hope I can change.

You're all so inspiring ❤️

I feel like I started with hope but it's actually evolved into confidence or belief. It's incredible seeing that this - so far at least - is working.

A top from 1m of fabric! That would be witchcraft!

I never buy less than 3m of fabric. At my size doing my own sewing isn't an economy.

But I do so love fabric!

Ah, I love that, hope! Yes, I think I’ve gone from, ‘can it really?’ to ‘something is going to go wrong’ to ‘bloody hell, it’s working’ to ‘yes, I can do this’ I’m now stuck on ‘I wish it was six months in the future’. 😂

welcome along @2cantkeepasecret nothing is out of bounds here. Feel free to ask questions, we’ve been through it all and are all at various stages of our journeys ☺️

I'm gearing up to order soon - it's my birthday next week and I don't want to be dealing with potential side effects while I'm doing all the nice things I have planned - going to the theatre and to a sauna (on different days!).

I'm hopeful. I want this to work. I keep imagining myself as a thin person and it feels like a product of my wild imagination!

Me and my friend do cos play - I never thought about being able to order less material for costumes!!

If I genuinely slim down then I will be able to make new tops from existing tops. What a thought!

However I'm not convinced I will slim down. I will end up at goal weight with skeletal feet, turkey neck, hollow cheeks and my current barrel shaped body.

Friday is my weigh in day - I've lost a pound this week taking me to 14st 12lbs, which means I have lost 98 pounds or 7 stones since my first injection. It's actually 100 pounds lost in total from when I decided to apply online for the first prescription as I lost 2 pounds in the week waiting for the first pen to be delivered.

I am now just over 60% of the way to my final target weight (10st 4lbs), and I have lost 32% of my starting weight. 32 weeks in total so far, starting on 5th July 2024.

@SilenceInside that’s fantastic! I also lost 2lb waiting for my pen post Christmas rush. I’ve weighed in today at 20st 13lb - 20something! Next goal 19something.

-5, -1, -2, -3, -2, -2
(-15)

@GnomeDePlume 😆. It’s hard to imagine isn’t it? Especially as age and gravity have taken the toll since I was last slim

It’s 5 months for me today since I started in September and I’m down 4 stone , 56lbs exactly on my 2nd week of 10mg with another 10mg pen ordered .
I had wanted to be 5 stone down in 6 months by March 14th, but looks like Xmas and 3 holidays have scuppered that . I’ve had a lot of NSVs which have kept me motivated though . I am still wearing my size 24s but can fit into size 22s, and 20s in pyjamas / baggy clothes . Onwards !

@Kay2000 congratulations on getting to the next stone down, roll on the 19s!

@StressedEric also congratulations on the 4 stone loss, all the NSVs keep me going too.

@StressedEric Well done! What does NSV stand for? Non….?

I’m having 3.75mg from my current 5mg pen and losing 2lb a week on average, my suppression is good enough for now. I think it could be better but I’m fine saying no to snacks or chocolate etc. And I have few side effects. When have you all known it was time to go up a dose, or did you go up regardless? Should I stay on the lowest dosage possible given I could be needing to be on this longer than most to lose 11 stone (😬). I think I remember someone being on 3.75mg for ages and still losing weight, sorry can’t remember who.

NSV = Non Scale Victories

Regarding doses, at the beginning I went up after 4 weeks to 5mg as per the standard schedule. After a couple of weeks on 5mg I had some D&V, I think related to what I ate but very much exacerbated by the effects of Mounjaro. I was then a bit worried about going up to 7.5mg, but had already got a 7.5mg pen. So I used that pen to do 5mg doses for a couple of weeks, then an interim 6.25mg dose before finally getting to 7.5mg. And I've stayed on 7.5mg since then, so that's 22 weeks now on that dose. I get decent suppression and no side effects, and have been steadily losing weight. The weight loss has slowed down recently, but I was expecting that given how much weight I've lost and my TDEE reducing alongside that - it was 2400ish to begin with and is now 1900ish.

Sounds like you are doing amazingly. Are you noticing the difference in health/fitness/appearance?

@Namechangean I am absolutely noticing the difference in health/fitness/appearance!

Healthwise, my blood pressure is now optimal, having been high previously even with medication. I used to snore terribly, and likely had sleep apnoea although not diagnosed. I use a snore analysing app (!) and my snoring has gone from loud or louder, to light or quiet. The difference is remarkable. I also sleep better in general, and wake up energised rather than still tired like I used to.

Fitness, I have not been formally exercising, but I walk a lot more now and can walk as far as I like now, and I walk much quicker. I'm more active in general, I get up and do things around the house rather than just veg out on the sofa. I can run without feeling like I'm going to stop breathing, I dash around everywhere for fun. My apple watch tells me I am significantly more active over the last few months than I was before. It also tells me that my walking heart rate is about 15 bpm lower on average than 6 months ago.

Appearance - I am definitely significantly and noticeably smaller, and my face is very different. It's no longer round with double chins, I have a jawline and cheekbones, and sometimes I catch myself in the mirror and am surprised how different I look. I am still obese though, my BMI is about 34.5 and I have another 4 stone to lose. My middle is much smaller but very squishy and tending towards a B shape which annoys me. I think I may end up with plenty of loose skin there, and having had 2 c sections doesn't help either with that. I was wearing size 24 and very oversized/baggy size 22 things with stretch. I'm now in 18 to 20, probably heading towards a definite 18 in recent weeks.

It's been a very long time since I was under 15 stone, so this feels like quite uncharted territory for me. It's still hard to imagine being a lot smaller again, to imagine being in the healthy weight range. Getting there step by step though.

Another question (sorry). Providers: do people switch? I went with Asda as that sounded “safe” but looking at other providers there is a big price difference and I’m thinking of switching. My husband says how do you know they’re genuine companies, like The Family Chemist (5mg pen is £133 compared with Asda £179!). What do you all do? I’m not someone who can be bothered with swapping monthly to get the cheapest price, but a £40-50 difference is ridiculous. Is there somewhere you can check the different companies out?

@Kay2000 I started with Asda too, for similar reasons although I did get a referral discount from someone here so it was a bit cheaper to start with. I've recently swapped to Zava to take advantage of a decent new customer discount. I will probably swap again if I can't get another discount next time.

The best site for price comparisons is

monj.co.uk/discount-mounjaro-price-list/

All the sites there are GPhC registered which means they are regulated and inspected. That should reassure your DH - he can check out the most recent inspection report for any pharmacy that you're thinking of using.