Mounjaro / Wegovy with > 5st / 30kg to lose: Thread 6

[VelociraptorsVelociRapping]

Thread SIX of this lovely community. Anyone using weight-loss injections to lose more than 5 stone or 30kg is very welcome to join us, no matter what stage of the process you are on. Share your losses, your non-scale victories (NSV), your frustrations and your love of Longley Farm cottage cheese and kiwi fruit here!

Please don’t post discount codes on this thread as your post will be deleted. These need to go in the dedicated thread on this board.

Gives around 800-1000 deficit. I am also on Tean RH so calories and macros have all been worked out for me.

@chelpel Was a lot of the 18lbs at the start? An average of 3lbs a week is more than the typical 1 to 2lbs a week you would expect.

That's a great weight loss so far! 18lbs in 6 weeks is really good - I'd lost the same in my first six weeks and was just relieved it was working..!

I honestly think that's a great start - the key is sustained weight loss over a long period of time. I've slowed down slightly, but still losing at about 2lbs a week - some weeks none but other weeks 3lb.

Please don't get disheartened - the tricky thing is having the patience to see each week out and just keep going with making the new habits we can. Maybe don't weigh for a couple of weeks - you'll hopefully see a bigger loss if you wait longer - just nice to see the numbers going down 🙂 I weigh on random days 1- 2 weeks apart, as I hate the daily/weekly weigh in routines of the past - helps me if I feel like I can wait as long as I want to.

Keep going - it's working!

And you’ve lost 18lb in six weeks? That’s a lot! Very gently, I think you may have slightly unrealistic expectations if you were expecting more.

Don’t despair @chelpel we’ve all had ups and downs and plateaus on our journeys, the key is to make sure you’re getting the basics right and then trusting the process.
this morning I weighed the same as my teenage self when starting Weight Watchers nearly 50 years ago. That was the first of many forays into weight loss classes, as in all of them, I was successful initially until I wasn’t.
But nothing I have done before has been as successful as this, 5 binge-free months, no feeling that I’m walking a tightrope and could fall off at any moment. At the rate I’m losing, about half a stone a month, I should hit healthy BMI at the end of June. I’m trying to focus on the here and now but the lure of summer dresses is calling!

@chelpelyour loss is actually really fast so you do need to work on expectations and realistic goals. You have lost on average 3 lbs a week. The WLI companies recommend a goal of 1-2lbs a week and a deficit of 500-600 calories a day.

please bear in mind you did not gain the weight overnight and you won’t lose it overnight either, you want slow and steady and to build good habits that you can maintain post MJ.

Restricting too hard and losing too fast will leave you with muscle deficit, bad habits and things like hair loss and skin problems,

@chelpel You need to find what works for you to help lose the weight.

After the first few weeks I tired fasting and only eating between 12pm and 7pm - this works for some people, but it turns out ~I need to eat early in the morning. My weight loss flatlined.

I need to eat - lots of protein and fibre and drink at least 3ltrs of water a day. I also have upped my exercise so that I'm maintaining a deficit.

Also maybe look at the whole week rather than day by day - I find my suppression is strongest at the beginning of the jabbing week (i jab on a Thurs evening) and so its easier to keep my calories low on the first few days and then I can eat more calories Tues/Wed/Thurs which averages out over the whole week to be in deficit.

@QueenOfHiraeth thank you for your message. I've been down since that appointment and gone back to work today after my maternity leave which was stressful enough as it is. Can you send me a link to that guideline and is it national or regional? I just don't feel that 8 months is enough time and I'm definitely not at my goal weight yet.

This is a massive deficit no?
Beyond the Macros… and I think probably more importantly is the psychology of our eating ways, things that led us to the size we are, the destructive eating habits and though process and how sustainable the future and I like to think of it as a ‘healing way’ of eating is.

This may be controversial but for this reason I am not counting calories.
I am not saying it’s for everyone, but for me.. counting, regimenting is a slippery slope to me saying ‘f**k it, I’ve spoilt it now so I may as well just binge and give up’. That led to a place of me ignoring and avoiding dealing with my weight or even being able to weigh myself.

As far as I am concerned, if I am loosing weight, then it is working for now to just make healthier choices, making sure the portion of veg and protein far outweighs other stuff on my plate. My brain does actually know what’s good for me and I listen to that now more than my desires (which are of-course quieter right now).

Anyone else avoiding the stress and time consuming calorie counting and being successful? I am just so concerned with making the way I eat now sustainable and manageable for the future, because I know all too well my usual failures

It’s a big deficit but it’s fairly easy to achieve if the starting weight is high. I would regularly have a TDEE of 3000kcal at my biggest.

I don’t think it’s controversial not to count calories if you find that MJ helps you to eat intuitively enough to maintain a consistent calorie deficit. The problem comes when someone complains that they aren’t losing and it transpires that they have no idea whether they are in a calorie deficit. Calorie counting is very triggering for some people, but others need to count calories to re-educate themselves on portion sizes.

@velvetsevenI absolutely LOVE this post.
completely get the ‘walking a type rope’ feeling and do feel more secure than ever on MJ I can keep going & most importantly, if I go a little wrong, I can get back on it with ease!

I am trying to unravel my binge-eating habits with insight for MJ, but Iam so delighted I haven’t binged since January. It is so healing to not be going through cycles of high sugar binges and the terrible resultant shame and disgust that follows.
So pleased for your success-50years marker says something serious about traditional weight loss methods which don’t work!!!

2nd day after injecting 6.25mg and I’m starving 😞
I just don’t think it’s working for me anymore.
I don’t think I will find a private pharmacy that will prescribe me the extra 2.5mg, so I’m a bit stuck and miserable

Hey @alwaysscared I think your diabetes doctor is really being a bit of a dick about this. I think you could go back to them if you can get an appointment, and ask them exactly how you are supposed to get a private prescription for a part dose, given that you are already prescribed the 5mg. Of course they can't answer that! If you are going to pay for the 2.5mg, it isn't a huge amount more just to pay for a 7.5mg and just take one injection, maybe? So not get the NHS prescription. But maybe that's a bad plan, as I don't know how that would play with them. But I think it's on them to resolve this and actually help you, especially as there are other people on Mounjaro via the NHS for diabetes who are getting the higher doses without any argument from their doctors.

One thing I would say, is that the 6.25mg will build up to higher levels each time you take it, so it may not be doing much now but perhaps after the next week it might do?

Great point @VelociraptorsVelociRapping
I did work out my TDEE after 6 weeks to check I understand what adjustment is needed as I loose weight. That is helpful to understand, with x weight loss means I need 1 piece of toast less a day.
I suspect as my weight reduces or when weight loss slows I will need to recalibrate what my body needs. I hope I can do this without needing to log everything & maybe just work out a few meals to help guide me again.

I think another way I am managing, I have (not intentionally) fallen into a intermittent fasting approach because I am not hungry for breakfast (I rarely was before) but the difference now I choose better food type which are more filling too than meal deal sandwiches and crisps to break the fast. I have also tried to set rules of not eating past 8pm which is essential for me to avoid side effects such as heart burn at bed. This eating style will ofcourse limit calorie consumption without counting.

I'm trying to think what might give you that 'full' feeling and when I'm feeling really hungry (like this week - have reduced my dose but am on day 5 this week now and the hunger feelings are kicking in!), I'll make a chocolate protein shake - they give me that lovely full feeling in my stomach - tides me over until whenever it's time to eat.

Or I make another coffee - just so I've been in the kitchen and made myself something!

Lots of water - I'm drinking about 2.5 litres a day now. Basically I'm mainly liquid at this point...

It's in the NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries which is the professional guidance clinicians use. This one:
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/diabetes-type-2/management/management-adults/
in the section "Antidiabetic drugs" under "Triple therapy"
I'm afraid I don't have much beyond basic knowledge about diabetes, it was not an area I worked in, but I think the point you may need to reinforce is that you don't stop a drug that is working. If you were my patient and I put you on metformin and you improved significantly, why would I take you off it?
You could also try googling your NHS area ICB medicines management to see if there are any local guidelines but, in an area like diabetes, they rarely have anything different to NICE

Good luck with the return to work, always stressful. Good luck

@alwaysscared I know I've said it before but I agree with @SilenceInside
Your doctor is part of the problem here. NHS guidance is that treatment should never be part NHS and part private, it should be one way or the other.

I honestly think he needs to step up and prescribe what you need or you need to stop the NHS 5mg and get it privately

@alwaysscared you and I, and I'm sure many others, are part of this situation where GPS and Diabetic nurses are just not sure exactly what to do with patients at certain milestones or when they reach difficulties. I've had a read of the link that @QueenOfHiraeth has posted and the can go up to higher doses depending on difficulties etc. We are essentially all the Guinea pig.

Thanks everyone. I’m going to try with the doctor again, but I think she is trying, she is getting guidance from a consultant and it is them that are saying no.
If it’s still a no I think I’ll have to try a different private pharmacist?!
Also, I get my prescription every 3 weeks as I’m super organised so maybe I could just go up to 7mg with the 5mg pens and pinch a bit from the next pen for my last dose each time?

@alwaysscared I am sorry sorry you are having difficulties. I am sure it is actually against prescribing licensing to have different prescription strengths from different suppliers and be using both at the same time so your GP is in a dodgy place.

This really is not the best care for you despite you advocating for yourself.
This is putting you at risk of having an incorrect dose/reaction and you are currently using a dosage which is not licensed, which is why they come in the pen dosage.
I’m so sorry it’s so difficult and really hope you can work this out with your GP.

As for the severe hunger, is there any long term strategies that work for you? I mean besides MJ? We will all have to face this at some point when we come off and so I think about this a lot now ‘how will I manage without it one day or what if I have to stop it next week’?

As suggested fluid helps fill you, coffee is an appetite suppressant. Some food like quinoa actually hold lots of water and increase in size in your tummy making you feel fuller. Lots of protein in a meal works and for me, distraction.

Tummy fat!

I know I have brought up the B belly thing before but as I loose weight I am fascinated about how my large B apron tummy is changing.

Have you lost equally from the B or has the top/bottom lost more?

My bottom of the B is feeling very wobbly, soft and marshmallowy. This means I can pinch and poke it easily to a good depth. It is definitely much smaller now and think I am loosing from here more that the top section. Sorry for TMI but the sides of my apron seem to start much narrower now.
However, my upper B feels so firm, not so pinch/pokable and is sitting very proud above my belly button crease like a firm
projection bulge. I know that I have lost weight higher up on my tummy around my rib cage but this firm tire does not feel like it is changing yet.

I read somewhere that visceral fat from around your organs is most dangerous and often is lost first before subcutaneous fat under your skin. Men with big firm round tummies tend to have much more visceral fat laid down and women are more prone to subcutaneous fat before age of menopause. I know some people store more under their skin (genetics play a part) and some people who look slim can store lots of hidden visceral fat too. What I am wondering is… could the upper B fat actually be visceral fat or just more stubborn under skin fat that is not ready to change yet. I wish there was an easy way to have some body MRI fat scan to visually see what’s changed. This would be so much better than scales or even before/after pictures.

Really curious to hear from some of you further down your weight loss journey about this upper B fat, did it change last?
Also some have fancy scales, does this show how your visceral fat has changed?

Just a quick question! I'm thinking about ordering two pens at the same time (from different providers) in order that I have a back up pen. Is this something others have done or not really? I would feel better knowing I have stocked up! But maybe it's a silly idea, especially if i need to go up the doses.

Eugh - the good old B Belly...!

I've definitely lost fat from just under my rib cage - there is almost the appearance of a high waist, which is quite startling...

My upper B isn't as firm as it was, and has reduced quite a bit, but is still very much there.... Lower B is horrible - still very squishy and doesn't seem to have reduced much at all - although the boyf says he can see my foof now when I'm stood up with no clothes on (gee thanks for that.... 😁) whereas before it was entirely covered by lower B.

I've got that delightful C-Section scar overhang anyway, which I think it what I can always see and will never go, presumably...!

But yes, still a B but a slightly smaller one, with a Regency waist that makes me want to wear Bridgerton dresses 😀

I think the whole tummy thing has slightly improved by my doing lots of hand weight stuff (this is what I tell myself anyway...). I can feel it tightening when I'm doing certain exercises, so am trying to do them on a regular basis (although have dropped from a very keen every day to about twice a week... 🙄need to increase it again!).

@taylorswift1989 I haven't ordered pens from more than one place at a time, but I have seen people post that they have, in order to take advantage of discounts eg new year discounts. And people often order early and so end up with a stockpile that way too. But, it is tricky if you are not on a settled dose, as you might not know if the pen is of a usable dosage when you come to use it.

I have managed 40 weeks without needing a back up, but I am on 7.5mg rather than the higher doses which have seen some supply issues for some pharmacies recently.

@Reginaphalangeeeee ah, my b-belly and c section overhang... My stomach has seen a lot of change since I started on Mounjaro. It was large, round rather than B shaped and hard, especially at the top. The lower section softened very quickly and it developed into the B shape, which has made the c section overhang more noticeable as before it was overshadowed (literally!) by my ginormous round belly. Everything has generally reduced, and the top section has definitely softened too in recent weeks. I was beginning to worry it would never retreat. I can now feel ribs first below my boobs, rather than a shelf of fat.

I'm hoping that as I lose the last 3 or 4 stones, that this will reduce further and even itself out to flatter rather than B-shaped. I think there will always be loose skin, but that is so much better than before (ginormous round hard belly) that I won't mind it. I really need to get on with exercise too, I recently found the resistance bands that have been in the wardrobe for several years. Now I need to start using them!!