Sabotaging myself and I don't know why

[Obese]

One month on mounjaro and I've lost 1.5 stone. Did my first 5mg injection yesterday.

Yesterday I was quite hungry and ended up eating loads, including crispy chicken strips, crisps, pretzels, 4 chocolate mousses and a chocolate eclair. It was a full on binge and I only stopped because I went to bed. Then lay there for 2 hours wanting more food.

Got up this morning and I am a bottomless pit. Ate a whole pot of cottage cheese, 2 chicken breasts, 600g pot of chicken & sweetcorn soup, another chocolate mousse, a can of coke and I am still hungry. But it's head hunger, not stomach hunger. But I can't stop. I haven't felt this out of control in so long.

Why am I doing this? I'm so disappointed in myself.

Oh love. Maybe you need some CBT therapy alongside injections?
Try and dust yourself off and get back on the wagon like a normal diet.
Sending hugs

Ps if it helps I'm on rybelsus and eat chocolate every day. Ive no excuse!

Firstly congratulations on your initial weight loss and that you’ve decided to take control of your weight.
Next I’m sorry you’ve had a hard day or two binging. I hope you’re feeling physically okay after the binge.
But mostly well done for reaching out for support even if it’s from strangers on a message board.
Have you previously worked out some things which help you with binges? You say it’s head hunger, have you worked out what triggered it - are you sad? Do you need to physically move your body? For example I used to get a “monkey on my back” feeling each afternoon which I used to feed endless chocolate. Turns out my monkey prefers walks. Long ones best. But short ones if that all I have time for.
Try not to beat yourself up or all or nothing it - it’s a couple of days. You’ve not undone all your work. Time to beget back to it

Well done on your initial weight loss - proof that you can do it.

This bit of a binge you’ve had - can you try to pinpoint what you’re actually feeling when you reach for the food? Boredom, stress, sadness, actual hunger, thirst (feels the same as hunger), or is it just routine/habit?

For me, I found I had got into a routine of eating when I was sitting down scrolling on my phone / not doing much. The mounjaro has really helped me with not wanting to do it anymore though. I’m at the same stage as you (but not lost as much), first 5mg a few days ago, but we all react differently.

Could it be related to lack of sleep, any additional stress, your monthly cycle (if that applies to you) or something like that?

Can you do something different tomorrow to shake up your routine? If you WFH can you go somewhere else to work tomorrow, or if you don't work, can you go out of the house for the day?

There are going to be setbacks along the way, but it's a small blip in a long journey where you've done really well already.

Thanks everyone for your kindness.

I just feel really really down these past few days, no idea why.

I've been out and got my steps in but then ended up at McDonald's.

Logged my calories for the day and drawing a line under it.

It's just a blip and I'll get through it

Maybe your blood sugar got low and that had an affect on your ability to stop? Don't be too hard on yourself - you've lost a lot of weight - fantastic. Hold your head up and be proud.

Could be lots of things
Sometimes I do similar when I've just weighed myself and seen I've lost weight.
Maybe it's a deep rooted fear of losing weight! (Very deep rooted as I feel like I do really want to lose!)

I have had the odd very hungry week/few days on mounjaro. It's normally hormone related. I also have the odd binge still but they are much smaller and less frequent than before and so over 8 months or so I have lost weight, albeit slower than most people.

I think of it as my anti-binging medication but it hasn't 100% stopped them

Well, this is what normally happens after a restrictive diet. Except mounjaro is supposed to stop that rebound effect while you keep taking it. My suspicion is that you are simply not on a high enough dose yet to prevent binges, or it's wearing off at your current dose.

Hang in there, keep upping the dose every 4 weeks, and by the time you are around 10mg (or who knows, maybe 7.5 or 12), you'll find things are under much better control.

Mounjaro doesn't work for everyone at 2.5 or 5mg and some people do need a higher dose to have the full effect.

If you were physically able to eat all that, it's not a high enough dose.

💛💛💐

How restrictive are you being on ‘normal’ days on Mounjaro?

I read about people on Mounjaro who are sticking to less than 800 calories a day because the lack of hunger allows them to, the problem with that it’s hard to get enough protein, fat, vitamins, minerals etc in a tiny number of calories, and also psychologically you are more likely to end up binging.

My calories each day varies but it averages out to 1800 a day. Definitely not restricting too much. It's about 800-1000 calorie deficit a day and I always hit my protein goal and 95% of the time I hit my fibre goal. I eat a moderate amount of carbs and tons of green veggies.

I've been so focused on nutrition and eating nutrient dense food and I've been enjoying it which makes the damage I've done these past 2 days sting even more.

On 2.5mg I felt great, I had minor suppression, food noise was there but easy to ignore, but it stopped me from eating my usual giant portions. I felt hungry but at appropriate times (dinner time, after exercise).

Now I've done my first 5mg dose I feel like I haven't taken anything at all. Food noise is LOUD, I don't have any suppression. I feel like I did before mounjaro.

I hope it kicks in soon or tomorrow will be rough.

I found 5mg awful. Food noise all the way. Anecdotally, I've read of a fair few people who say this. I moved up to 7.5 and the urge to eat too much, the food noise, all of it just disappeared. Such relief! May well be the same for you - don't lose hope!

It always takes 3 days to fully kick in for me. I take it Saturday and feel full by Monday but 10mg is suppressing me all the time 4 weeks in.

Best advice I could give is drink lots of water, it could be dehydration and low blood sugar first thing in morning. I usually have half a glass of smoothie with liquid vitamins in which does the trick then drink coffee and have a crumpet or no breakfast if working. I carry a bottle of sugar free squash on me which curbs hunger yet I still feel hungry for my regular 3 meals a day.

If i have low suppression, which i have as pre diabetic meant doses wearing off quick, I try to eat nuts, kefir, fruit or other protein or healthier snacks. I have low calorie crisps in. I track everything and try not to buy junk on purpose. I was hungry yesterday night so had a crumpet which satisfied me. I'm bmi 28 and my deficit is 1250, I've stuck to it 95% since on mj only due to tracking and saying no as being slim is healthier than temporary satisfaction of junk.

Oh OP, I was you, so I 100% get it!!

Does your budget stretch to add coaching to your MJ? There are some (Juniper , VOY) who have consultants who can provide additional support to the jabs.

Some practical advice, and this really helped me:

1. don't keep unhealthy food in the house or keep it far/out of reach.
2. Write down/make note of what you are eating, so you can see with your eyes the sugar/calories add up
3. Whenever you binge or feel like binging, eat a little less. One choc moose instead of 2. (Or low cal/high protein choc moose.)
4. Up the protein to keep your appetite at bay - so binge on more chicken strips, rather than pretzels.
5. Brush your teeth! I brush my teeth straight after dinner because it stops my 'sweet tooth' craving
6. Write down what you are feeling during the time you are binging. I was a 'boredom' eater and if I didn't know what to do, eating filled my time, almost like a hobby. Whether I was hungry or not was irrelevant.
7. take one day at a time. Don't worry about what you did yesterday, just focus on today... I personally struggled with visualising the full day, so I cut it down even further and just focused on the 'morning' or 'afternoon'.

I hope this is helpful, but you are not alone and today is a new day!

Thanks so much everyone. Your support and advice has really helped. I'm feeling much better today.

It's hard trying to balance keeping snacks and treats in for everyone else in the family (who are all a lot taller, healthier and active/fitter than me plus growing teenagers) and avoiding temptation. I don't want them to give up all of that stuff just because I have no self control. They are very supportive and encouraging though so they will if they have to!

I've just stayed out of the kitchen today. Easier to ignore everything if I'm not in the room with it.

Drank 3L of water today so far, had poached eggs, spinach, cottage cheese & a protein bagel for breakfast, chicken & mushroom stir fry for lunch. So a much better day so far and I feel like I can get a handle on this again.

I haven’t binged in quite that way. BUT I did get a sweet tooth today. Normally that could be dealt with easily eg one biscuit or half a yoghurt. However, I noticed it wasn’t going away today and I was going back for more. I didn’t want to end up eating lots of sweet bits and bobs. So I made myself a leftover roast dinner and – as if by magic - my sweet tooth evaporated.

The moral of the story is I think that sometimes you genuinely fancy something sweet. But other times you are just actually hungry and if you eat some proper food including protein, the sweet tooth will subside in a natural way.