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.

I've been looking at collagen and protein powders and have only just realised that most of them come from fish. I've been a vegetarian for 30 years (although I ate fish for a little while when I was pregnant) and am wondering if there are any good vegetarian alternatives that people can recommend. If not I might have to seriously consider whether I am comfortable using these products for my health.

@alltablenochairsi don’t drink anymore either, not really a conscious thing, I had to stop when I was pregnant 11 yrs ago, and then just never started again and haven’t missed it. It’s entirely possible I just had my lifetime quota of alcohol between the ages of 16 and 29 though 😂

@MamaNewtNewt I use MyFitnessPal free version, you can create recipes if there’s stuff you cook a lot and it will work out the calories per portion, if you have meals that you tend to eat on repeat you can set those up too so you just log the meal rather than the constituent parts. I find these features really useful as I’m a boring, routine/habit driven and predictable person so basically eat the same few things on repeat o as to avoid having to put any effort into thinking about meals 😆

Thanks @InfoSecInTheCity will give that a go

Hello everyone, enjoying catching up on all the news and fantastic achievements. LOVE this thread.

Getting ready to leave for an event tonight (and overnight stay) and settled on a dress after sending videos (sister and daughter) of the 4 that made it to the shortlist. It's one I have had for years and looks great. I can hardly take it in how loose it is on me (in a good way - it is reasonably fitted). My daughter said my legs looked amazing. I assured her my thighs not so much, but yes, my bottom half of my legs look quite good. I had to swap the extended ankle straps that I bought and revert to the ones that came with the sandals (that would not even meet before - now on the second hole!), To wear ordinary ankle straps, shoes, etc is a great feeling. Tights too. Nice fitting tights that feel comfortable.

I agree with everyone, it's not all about the weight, it is all the other improvements that come with MJ which make everything so much better.

What an absolute joy to have a choice of outfits. Normally it is "what fits and hides me most/covers the worst".

@MamaNewtNewt I use Carb Manager to log my weight, etc and it is fab for logging daily food intake. I don't usually pay any attention to the calories, but it gives you calories, protein, fats, carbs, etc (and automatically calculates percentages from your current weight, so keeps you on track for any goals - like ensuring adequate protein you should be eating every day). It is very good and free.

@NewbieMJ amazing

And yes

It is all about the many other benefits too

My gosh walking for 15k steps a day would have been impossible 6 months ago

I never want to carry 7 excess stone around with me again

I couldn't even tie my shoes

@hellohellooo Yes! Exactly this - putting on socks without a battle, painting toe nails.....

I'm only 3.5 stone down, so not sure about walking 15k steps a day (one day😊), but definitely exercise and just every day things like bending, getting up from the floor, etc are all so much better!

@NewbieMJ for sure

and celebrating all of these wonderful goals too 🙏🙏💯

You can get whey protein in various flavours - I don’t get on very well with dairy so use soya protein, I think there are various other vegan options.

Same for collagen, search for “plant collagen” and you’ll find it.

I am also vegetarian and have wondered about the vegan "collagen" supplements. They can't be collagen in a real sense, as that is always animal based by definition. Looking at the ingredients in them, they seem to be amino acids/protein plus multivitamins, in the hope that this promotes the production of collagen in your body. But, eating protein and taking an ordinary multivitamin would presumably have the same effect, which I already do.

Mind you, animal collagen, taken as a powder like this is essentially just eating protein with multivitamins too.

There are a few options for vegan protein powders, generally soy or pea based, and if you're OK with dairy then there is a wealth of whey-based options (not everyone gets on with it, however). As @SilenceInside says there is no such thing as vegetarian or vegan collagen as collagen is by definition an animal product. I don't know how manufacturers get away with claiming to sell a 'vegan collagen' when there is literally no such thing!

This does concern me a bit.

If prescribers are given downloads from the NHS app it should hopefully be enough for prescribers to meet prescribing guidelines. But we don't have an NHS app in Scotland. So not sure how we are going to be able give the same level of "evidence" for eligibility.

The same happens with many medications. We went private for Roaccutane for ds. The Dr asked about his medical history, but didn't check it with his NHS record before prescribing, so we could have omitted something that prevented prescription.

Hopefully they will land on something that allows those who do need it to still get it privately (without further/excessive costs), while protecting most of those who have not declared information that would make them ineligible. There will always be those who try to trick the system - they need to take some personal accountability for any consequences.

(Posting this here as well as on the July 2024 thread, which is a bit quiet now!)

End of another week, must admit I'm feeling a bit over it all at the moment. I have made amazing progress, no doubt, but I am finding it all a bit tedious! Such a long way to go still till I'm not obese. But there's nothing else to be done other than to continue on, so continue on I will.

Current stats at the end of week 36:
SW: 139kg (21st 12 lbs)
CW: 92.4kg (14st 7.7 lbs), was 93.4kg (14st 9lbs) last week
GW: 90kg (14st 2 lbs) fourth interim goal.
Total of 103 pounds down, or 46.6kg.
Current pen: 7.5mg, 26 weeks on this dosage.

I am pleased to be 1kg down from the gain last week. So, 0.5kg down from the week before, and back onto a downwards trajectory. BMI is now 33.5, which is weirdly the same as the percentage of my starting weight that I have now lost, which is 33.5%.

@SilenceInside Tedious is a good description for me too...I guess 7-8 months in that is to be expected.

The eating changes and no alcohol are not a problem. But I’m over the weekly injections, weight logging, water intake, and the endless cycle of ordering pens or reading about changes to prescribing guidelines.

What keeps me going is remembering last June, the aches, embarrassments, breathless on the slight hill on the way to work and not being able to talk to colleagues, high blood pressure. I never want to go back to that so Mounjaro will need to, as you say, continue on.

At some point I think I need to take the focus off Mounjaro and reframe it as just a medication I take, like my blood pressure tablets or HRT. The bigger question is what replaces it? I might need a hobby!

I need to find something to give me a bit of a boost. As I am old and sluggish I don't have many calories to play with and it's getting harder to balance the social life and keep losing weight, plus I think I may be at a sticking point as my weight hasn't moved for 3 weeks.

I'm trying to eat a bit more of the better things at the moment so today, instead of having a protein bagel with chicken and a bit of salad, I'm trying to have a big chicken salad with just half a bagel on the side. I'm debating between trying calorie cycling or low carb for a week to see if it shakes things up a bit

It is feeling tedious as others have said but, in the meantime, I'm clinging to the great advice from @gimmemounjaro - The next six months are going to pass whether you take care of yourself or not, so who and where do you want to be in 6 months' time?

Out of nowhere at the park today my 6yo asked me “how fat” I am. I didn’t really know what to say so told her I am quite fat! She asked if she was skinny so I said yes, and then she told me “that means I’ll live longer than you”

I didn’t even realise she thought about these types of things, although there was a couple of girls in her class calling people fat a few months ago :( It’s so hard to make sure they get the right messages- I’m losing weight to try and be healthier for her, but also very consciously not talking about calories or weight in front of her because I don’t want to affect her body image when she’s older.

@claudiawinklemansfringetrimmer It's tricky with the kids isn't it. My DD is 5 and is always telling me that she loves my squishyness. But my DS11 has learning disability and AuDHD and he calls me fat (and many worse things) several times a day. He has just started calling his sister fat too (she isn't) but as someone who was overweight as a child I find that triggering. My DC know that I am on a mission to get fit - I have told them that I want to get quicker than them. But they don't know anything about the meds and don't seem to have noticed anything about the way I am eating. I really want to be a better role model for them and want us to be more active together.

I made it to the gym x3 this week so hopefully heading in the right direction. No loss on the scales this week but I am not dwelling on it.

Hello! I’m about to have my first jab and feeling frankly terrified! However, I know I need to do this as I’ve at least 8 stone to lose.

It’s a lot simpler than the long pages of the instructions make it seem. Hopefully you’ve done it and discovered that it was ok. Keep us posted!

@claudiawinklemansfringetrimmeri think just talk with her about ‘healthy’ not ‘fat’. I’ve told DD that it’s important that she eats the right foods and does activities to be healthy, to grow strong muscles, she’s a big girl, a head taller than others in her year and sturdy and she’s asked whether she has fat legs before and I’ve said no, she has strong legs, legs that carry her body around, that run and jump etc. I’ve told her I’m trying to eat better and do exercise because I need to be healthier and I want to be stronger.

For those feeling like tedium is setting in, what can you do this weekend that is different? Is there a park you can get to that you haven’t been to before? How about a local raved about vegan restaurant you’ve never tried, or a farmers market you can visit for some local seasonal veg dishes? Adventure golf, bowling, roller rink, go ape…?

We tried a hotpot restaurant a few weeks ago and it was brilliant, a completely different eating experience to anywhere we’ve tried before, for anyone not familiar, you get a big bowl of soup in a special fitting in the table that keeps heating it throughout the meal, you then get loads of small plates of ‘stuff’ - noodles, raw thinly sliced beef, mushrooms, water chestnuts, prawns… whatever you want, and you cook them in the soup at the table. It’s a family style experience, everyone dipping there chosen items in till it’s cooked and refilling their bowls, it was fun, healthy food and a bit of a novelty.

Ive found it helps to do something that gets me out of the rut, this weekend we’re heading to a Lego event at the Space Centre, I get to spend all my money in the gift shop (my favourite part of any tourist attraction) and DH and DD will build stuff out of blocks.

This is one of those situations where I find it best to stop thinking and just do it. You’ve weighed the pros and cons, done your research, made the decision and you now have the injection. Screw a needle on the end of the pen, prime it, twist the knob and jab yourself in the belly. It will be done in 30 seconds.

I second this, I had to use the same sort of pen for insulin when I was pregnant (gestational diabetes) and I cried like a baby before doing my first one and then when I actually did it it was fine! Sometimes you’ve just got to jump in and get it done

It took me ages to get the courage to stick the needle in the first time. I sat on the edge of my bed saying to myself "one, two, three, and JAB" and still not doing it. But when I finally did I was so surprised at how painless it was that I wondered if I'd done it properly. Give it a go. What's the worst that can happen?

@RainbowConnection1 the first time I did the jab I watched a YouTube video and then after that I was able to do it myself. I'll try and find the link for you.

I did it! Or should I say, DH did it! Think next time I’ll be brave enough to do it myself but at least it’s done. Never felt a thing

Weigh in day for me after week 35:

SW: 241.1lbs / 17st 3 / 35.6 BMI
CW: 176.3lbs / 12st 8 / 26 BMI
GW: ? 160lbs

This week -2.7lbs
Total -64.9lbs, 4st 9

Mini goals hit this week: 4.5st lost and 80% to goal. I am also the lightest since records began (ie since I got a Fitbit 8 years ago). I think I remember getting down to 12st 4 in about 2008 but have certainly never been lower than that as an adult, so that would be a big moment.

Busy and stressful week coming up and I won’t always have access to my own food and a kitchen, so this week’s goal is to stick with it as best I can and hope to hold steady. It’s been coming off quite fast after a very slow few weeks in January so I might be due a tricky time. But trying as ever to regard these numbers as the least important way of measuring success.
And on we go 💪

Btw anyone in a stall / rut / slowdown - I have lost 8.2lbs in the last four weeks compared to 3.3lbs in four weeks in January. I’m eating the same things and actually on a lower dose. The only thing I’m doing differently is trying to move a bit after meals, so a quick walk in my lunch break. I doubt that’s making a huge difference - I think January was just one of those natural points where my body was pausing, probably trying to hang on to the weight to prevent me from dying of starvation. I had lost bang on 20% of my starting weight at that point. So if this is you right now, just keep going and things will start up again I’m sure.