January 2025 Starters Thread 5 - Tortoises, Slow Runners, let’s lose a bit more!

[DGonMJ]

Previous thread https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5270287-january-2025-starters-thread-4-lets-lose-some-more

Please no discount codes!

@MananaMananaPenelope right? Nobody believed me when I complained previously about how little I ate and that I was either gaining or not losing on it. People are different, according to one study where they compared people of same height, weight and muscle mass, the difference in BMR was 700 kcal. Effectively 2 people, same size, can eat the same and one needs to run 10K every day just to burn the same calories.

My BMR is 1299 as measured by a professional. No wonder it’s so hard to lose any weight! And then the messaging around “1200 calories is too low and starving yourself is unhealthy”. MJ just makes it bearable to stay on very low calories for any length of time. Finding maintenance is where the real challenge will be now.

Morning fellow losers! Yay, it’s Thursday ( although I have been convinced it’s a day later all week!!)
Wow @HeavyHeidi that’s crazy isn’t it and explains a lot!

Well done @meatyryvita , @MananaMananaPenelope @BreezyPeer @DGonMJ and everyone else with losses!!

Can anyone recommend a decent multivitamin ideally with iron please? So many out there and I don’t know where to start!

I’ve signed up for an open water swim trial next month, looking forward to it!

My scales have my BMR at 1340 which is 67% of a medium Domino’s pepperoni pizza.

I’m not counting calories and I never will. I know from past experience that a restricted calorie plan is miserable and unsustainable for me. I was incredibly successful on low carb and I’m using the time on MJ to find ways to reduce carbs within an incredibly restrictive gluten free FODMAP on steroids diet.

For me it matters where the calories come from not just how many I’m consuming. We are complex organisms not bomb calorimeters and not all calories are equal. I’ll happily swap slow weightloss for finding a sustainable future maintenance.

So after posting about my weight being stuck again for almost 2 weeks, it's 'official' weigh in day and I've lost 1lb this morning! Not much but I'm so happy it's now moving again. Will do my 3rd 5mg jab this evening (week 8). Plodding along slowly...

SW: 12st 2.2
CW: 10st 12.4
GW: 9st 7

The sulphur burps are back! I think I'm just going to have to accept I'll feel mildly I'll every Thursday and Friday from now on. I don't think it's anything I've eaten, it's just a reaction from my Wednesday jab.
I reckon my bmr is also very low, people have always told me I was being ridiculous when I said I needed to be under 1000 cals to lose weight at any sort of pace, but I had the evidence from my calorie tracking.

Yep, had mine assessed professionally and it’s 1326. This is why it’s so difficult to lose, or even just maintain, without WLI.

I'm upset for all of us. Yes it IS harder for many people to lose weight! We are not greedy and lazy. We are not all secret eaters who claim to exist on air while secretly eating mayonnaise straight from the jar.
My Dh has always marvelled how little I eat even when I'm not trying to lose weight and joked that I would do well on a deserted island.

Agree. My DH also says it’s unfair (bless him!).

So since jabbing with 7.5 mg on Tuesday, my suppression has been sky-high, to the point that even the idea of putting anything in my mouth is a struggle. In addition, I am experiencing a total reversal of my constipation, now having rather urgent bowel movements! Still manageable, and I'm not complaining too much (yet), as it's a bit of a relief tbh. But I barely managed any dinner last night and am therefore feeling v flat/low energy today. And I'm cold again! Although it did snow here earlier (wtaf), so it might be linked to the actual weather.

And the burps! Never had any before, but been burping lots since Tuesday, what's that all about?! Not the sulfur ones that everyone is describing, just lots of burps. The DC think it's hilarious!

Moan over 😆

Official weigh in and jab (5mg) day today and I’ve finally hit the stone loss mark!! Am so happy after the scales barely moving the last 2/3 weeks!! Think I’ll be staying at 5 for the next pen as well unless DH wants to move up as well.

Official weigh in tomorrow and unless a miracle happens I’ll be reporting half a lb. Last weekend’s unexpected whoosh obviously annoyed my body so much that it’s been trying to gain it back all week.

I’ve also seriously overdone my fibre intake this week and I’m suffering for it. I’m so bunged up and feel bloated and awful. I’m going to have to do a couple of low residue days to sort it out 😢

I’m following the pattern of my last pen - biggest loss in week 2 trailing to nothing for the bonus dose. Hopefully there’ll be a decent amount in my bonus dose tomorrow and if not then I’ll top it up from my 7.5mg pen.

Official weigh day tomorrow- today I’ve increased 😖 so hopefully that shifts down tomorrow. If not then I’ll be ordering a 7.5 for the next pen. Food noise back a bit - had some chocolate 🤬 so willpower not what it was either.

Interesting chat on BMR. I worry about eating too much below my BMR and whether it will affect my cognitive function. Based on nothing other than my own concerns. I don’t mind losing a bit slower if it means I can avoid brain fog and tiredness. My brain is my most important asset and gets the mortgage paid.

My BMR according to my BUPA health assessment (BMI, body composition, blood pressure) was just over 1500, but with the exercise I do over the week my maintenance calories would be just over 2000 (although I think they over estimated how many calories I burn during exercise). However that was a month ago…have lost 4kg since then so it will have gone down. I’m eating around 1200-1300 a day at the moment and happy with that amount. I feel like maintenance would allow for a slightly bigger dinner.

I think there's a misunderstanding on what the BMR is - it's the minimum number of calories your body will use in 24 hours just to survive, ie if you stayed in bed for a day and didn't move or eat. It's not the number of calories you need for a day, that's much higher. Your TDEE (which may be the number you've seen elsewhere) is the estimate of the actual calories you need, based on an idea of your general activity level.

@Curlsandcurves I started drinking CBD drinks when I mostly gave up alcohol, which was a couple of months before I started MJ. I do like them although whether the relaxing effect is placebo I couldn't say!

Before MJ I would have a couple of glasses of wine a week, but now I literally cannot stomach it. There are a lot of nice CBD drinks. You can also get CBD powder to add to any drink eg juice or kombucha.

I’m finding 5mg not as good at food noise as 2.5mg was and it’s incredibly frustrating. Interestingly that on this dose I’m also finding I’m having an allergic reaction. I wonder if I should go down to 3.75. I don’t necessarily want to go up!

you're right, 1400 BMR is not unusually low.
Burning calories doing sports or general movement is another interesting topic though. It seems to even out and active people don't necessarily burn more calories overall: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-exercise-paradox/

What I've found interesting anecdotally is that the slimmest people I know have all been fidgeters. Exercise (as in going to the gym/class) doesn't really burn much at all in comparison to what you burn just existing.

But I think if you are someone who can't sit still, you burn many more calories every day than someone who doesn't fidget.

So my BMR is around 1400 but my Apple Watch shows how many “extra” calories I build up over the day - does anyone know how accurate this amount is? My extra calories are normally between 400-800 so I’m aiming for around 1300 per day. Does that sound ok?

I never eat back exercise calories @Cavapoodlenoodle .

So in my case would you be aiming for1400-500 =900 cals a day?

Don't take your calorie deficit from your BMR, that's far too low long term - take it from someone who's lost 9 stone. Subtract your deficit from your TDEE so 1300 sounds okay, bit low maybe but you can play around with it and see what works.

Ahh yes! Thank you for the clarification 🙏Momentary confusion :)

I think it’s so variable, so many different formulas out there for each measurement/ calculation. Google advises that the most accurate method is currently the Mifflin-St Jeor method. That gives me a BMR of 1600.

Smart scales have replaced callipers and experts for most of us.

We’re all so different. I wouldn’t lose an ounce on 1300 cals. I don’t want to cut out food groups as my life isn’t like that.