March 2025 Starters thread 4

[TheSpoonyNavyReader]

New thread for all of us.

Thank you for allowing me to rant, share our ups and downs. Our group blows my mind of how we are so supportive of each other.

My clothes are hanging on me and my tops are more like dresses. My shorts that I only bought in December are like baggy nanny shorts , dresses are pinned up at cleavage. BUT I’m not buying any new clothes until I’m at GW or at weight that I feel satisfied with. I still have around 3-4st to go and don’t want to reshape wardrobe twice . Also in the past when I started buying new clothes that’s when I have stopped loosing as it’s like oh you down, new clothes ,look good this is fine. This time it’s for life, so I just have to look like a trash woman dressed in potato sacks until I get where I want 😅

Long sleeveless waistcoats are my new favourite as they will work from a size 18-12 without looking too big

Feel cold half of the week, was shy of fainting twice but lightheadiness most days now. Today was the first time I felt like I have been eating too less like shaky feeling (day 6) when you diet without MJ , quickly passed though, however I am way more energetic then I used to be . After I finish work I do more stuff like household work , things with family friends etc. and more efficient at work. I am sleeping very very deep (to the point that when DH went pub the other night I didn’t wake up when he came home, scared the S when I woke in the morning, I think the main reason why I’m more energetic is because I sleep more calmly deeper as I don’t snore since day 1 of MJ (I snored since birth)

I admire you for needing to travel long haul for short period and as you mentioned quite frequently .

I travel only nationally at the moment (used to be Europe) and it drains me, especially overnight stays with client dinners etc . Can’t imagine jet lag on top of that

remind yourself at your next weigh in that you were very conscious of what you were eating , as weight gain may be due to water retention for travel , but you learned new habits which will be lifelong lesson. Hope you still lost though ☺️

I have realised that I changed my injection site (from thigh to stomach) and my suppression is easier, and my side effects (especially low mood) are pretty non existent. Might be a coincidence, but I think I’ll try it in stomach again next week.

Bloody hell thread 4 is nearly full!

I’ve been on 5mg for three weeks and although I’m losing slowly it’s 0.5 or 1lb a week. I am disappointed if I’m honest but I guess at least I’m losing weight without having to put masses of effort in. I have trouble noticing if I’m full anyway so don’t get the “full up” feeling others seem to have. I just need to concentrate on portion sizes as I now know that even a quarter of my previous plate size will satisfy me. My eyes don’t believe it though so I think I’m still having too much, hence slower weight loss.

I am starting some other medication next week for ADHD and that might kill my appetite too- just bloody hope my eyes realise 😂

@Bipaloss I used to do 1 week NY 1 week London for years so I’m glad I only have to do a couple of days a month now in the US. Even if the short turnaround is brutal, it’s a more manageable life. A lot of the reason for my rapid weight gain was having half my life where I ate out or takeout every night for half the month. And also ate my way through jet lag.

@ShineyGreen The eyes and brain not catching up with stomach thing is real - I’m having to remind myself to put about half the amount of food I think I want on my plate and only refill if still hungry 30 mins later (which seems to be the time it takes for my brain to register a full signal). Most of the time I don’t want anymore food.

@TheSpoonyNavyReader When you start the new thread please can you post the same message that you have in the opening post for this one as the first message? I see it every time I open the thread before it skips to the last read post and it fills me with joy and energy every time. Perfect words.

I've got an entire wardrobe of too small clothes to get into first!

Snap- I was just going to say this- rather than buying new clothes in just chuffed to fit back in my old clothes! I have a big family holiday abroad for my 40th in August though and looking forward to getting some nice new things to wear for that. I have been slim before in the past (a yoyo dieter who has been up and down) and I always think two of the best things about being slim (or maybe rather the best feelings, aside from the obvious health benefits) are:
a) being able to wear whatever you want and it looking good. When you’re bigger, you see something you’d like to wear, you try it on and it just looks awful, too tight, clinging to the wrong places, size up and it looks like a tent, everything is unflattering- but it isn’t the clothes’ fault.
b) looking good in photos - when you’re bigger, every single photo is so unflattering- double chin, belly rolls, taking up double the space of the photo of the other person you’re standing with etc.

Another week with no loss
I'm trying to trust the process but it's bloody hard
So far I've lost 16lb total and when I think back to all my attempts 16lb seems to be where I stall.
Started at 210 and got down to 194 on VLCD then stalled and went back up to 206.
Started 206 on IF and got to 190 then stalled and went up to 198
Started at 198 before Christmas then started MJ at 194 in March - now 178 - so going to keep plodding on - don't know whether to move up to 7.5mg or stick at 5 for now

Good morning!
weigh day here
about to start week 11 on 2.5mg

SW: 73.8 kg (bmi 28)
CW: 65.5 kg (bmi 24.8)
GW: 60 kg (bmi 23)

a half pound loss this week but I'm fine with that as I've consciously been eating more carbs and trying to slow down weight loss. I've got ten weeks to get to my goal at a pound a week. I'd be happy with that loss. It will get slower from now on in as I had been pushed into hypothyroidism which speeds up metabolism and I'm going to cut back on my medication which will slow it back down...

still NSW: summer dresses fit! Back stronger from exercises! Can climb stairs without thighs screaming! I'm on week four couch to 5k. Chat gpt thinks I'm 5-10 years younger than my actual age. I'm really focussing on getting stronger and more flexible now.

good luck for the next week all! And thank you for your support. Also all this talk about vinted made me finally go there myself and I bought a summer dresses fit in a size down for 2.50. Woooo!

It’s hard going isn’t it when the weight loss is so slow/tiny. I haven’t found the 5mg to be very different to 2.5mg to be honest so after one pen of 5 I will be going up to 7.5. Will do 6.25 for a while via golden dose but haven’t sat down and worked out the dosage/clicks vs time pen has been in use.

Keep going @mumofmanydaughterofone - we WILL get there in the end even if it’s only in tiny increments.

Week 8
SW 201lbs
CW 177lbs
GW 160lbs

i am going to do a second round of 5mg as I had 2 bouts of liquid diarrhoea when I first when went up a dose. I am continuing to lose at 5mg.
So far I haven’t told people that I am using MJ, but I was thinking of starting to mention it if asked. What have reaction been to people who have shared this info?

@mumofmanydaughterofone The key thing is look at your overall trend, it's easy to think it's not working, but it is, you've lost over 30lb in total (VLCD+IF+MJ), even with some bounces in between. That's incredible. Don't lose heart. There's a lot of anecdotal stuff on threads about stalls and plateaus being a good thing because it's your body adjusting to a new set weight. Do you do both MJ and IF? I find that's a really good combination for me, the weeks when I've lost decently have been when I've really stuck to my eating window. And obvs have stuck to my calorie needs.

@Flamethrowers Brilliant NSVs!

@Illbefinejustbloodyfine @TryingMJ Same here - goal was to get back into clothes that really didn't fit at all last summer, I think I rotated about 5 work outfits and about 3 non-work ones all summer because everything else was way too tight, and what I could fit into was the loose linen look. I'm eyeing up a lovely fitted pair of white shorts to wear today - couldn't even get them over my arse last year. Super happy.

Also happy that after two days in NY with three business meals a day (OMG, how hard is it to get a low calorie breakfast in a hotel in NY, that was the hardest meal of the day to manage!) and nowhere near as much walking as I'd planned to get in, plus a slightly uncontrolled eat my way through jetlag day yesterday I haven't gained. I'm feeling a lot of suppression still but not as much as usual on a Sunday because I jabbed early this week for the trip, so will need a bit of willpower today to make sure I don't Sunday splurge. Even if I gain a bit from here though before weigh day tomorrow, I'll count a stall or a small gain a win this week. Business trips with hulking great men are a challenge diet wise!

I haven’t posted loads as my weight loss feel so much slower than everyone else’s which has been so frustrating but today I have lost a stone from my start date of 19th March. I’m still heavier than I was at Christmas so I’m still in all my same clothes and I don’t have the joy of shopping my old wardrobe but at least I can say that!

I hope the next stone is a BIT faster. Going up to 7.5mg on Tuesday.

Morning all

week 9 completed and weigh in day

SW 115.0 Kg /18.1 st
CW 104.7 Kg / 16.48 st
GW 11-12 st

Loss this week 1.9 kg / 4.2 lb
total loss 10.3 Kg / 22.7 lb

after a 0 loss last week this week was my second highest weekly loss (w1 was highest at 5,lb) .

this is the week of the 4 week intervals my highest losses due to it being the week after TOM , but I did be very contious of water and food intake this week after the 0 loss last week. Very pleased to be under 105kg /10 kg loss (first mini goal), next 10kg goal to be reached by 19th July

@TheBossOfMe im slightly dreading our trip to the us this summer as every time we go - even in ny - I am daunted by the size and sauciness of even simple salads. We spent a week with friends in Texas once and I think that was the most challenging of all. Even the potato salad came out of a box - it rattled and shook before it was rehydrated. We trawled the supermarket for food but out in the sticks it all looked beautiful plump and lovely but it was a chimera - the taste was like water and paper pulp. It the main reason I have zero thrill about a US/UK trade agreement. Surviving Us food - even in high end NY restaurants - takes determination!

@Flamethrowers The only reason NY women aren't fat is because when they're not eating out or getting takeout, they exist on green juices and air, plus don't drink much alcohol. And exercise absolutely loads, the number of different fitness studios on every street is insane. Orange Theory, Rumble, F45 appear to be the three favourites right now! I think they spend as much money on exercise classes as they do on food. You're right about their salads though, they're not that low calorie at all, even with dressing on the side. Sweetgreens lowest calorie salad is almost 400 calories, and most are around the 500-700 mark. That's a lot for a lunch salad!

When I started I only told my husband and intended to keep it that way. I have however since mentioned it to a few people where I felt comfortable and I've had no negative reactions, I've found people to be mainly just be interested in the experience.

Weigh day for me and a maintain this week which I am delighted with. I was away with work in Hungary for the week which involved eating out all meals, buffet breakfasts, huge portions and alcohol every night. I really worked at making the most sensible choices and not getting carried away but it felt like I had alot working against me so I feel really proud of myself.

Well done, @Purplebeag - it's really hard when you're away from home and less able to control what you eat. A maintain is great.

NSV - I changed my mind about the white shorts and put on a black skort that I really couldn't get on last year, gave them to my string bean DD in a tantrum. Just fished them back out of her wardrobe and am wearing them with pride, with a fitted tank top. And dare I say I think I actually look good in this outfit? It feels amazing to put clothes on and not immediately take them off and put something looser on because you can't get away with fitted. DD doesn't even mind (she borrows clothes from me whenever she wants anyway) - just so happy to see her old Mum back again :)

We are the same start weight but you have lost 2lb more than me! 😂 I have had stomach issues on 5mg and now I’m on my 3rd pen @ 7.5 mg but reducing to 5mg
only one person knows I’m on the injections- as far as anyone else knows I’m doing a keto diet as I had lost 2 1/2 st doing that but had stalled, I know one work colleague will be horrified if I told her so it’s easier not to say!

Morning all, good to see the progress and especially the resilience when things are slow!

I had an idiotic near miss yesterday… was walking up a mountain and hadn’t fuelled properly because of MJ. Felt really weird and faint. Thought I was going to have to ring the rescue - managed to get it together quickly through pausing and eating some flapjack. But felt like a proper muppet. Finished the climb and walk but projectile vomitted on the way home 🤢

what an absolute amateur - I take kids on adventures as part of my volunteering and ironically spent last weekend cooking for mountaineers- but because I wasn’t hungry yesterday morning just forgot to fuel.

anyway - all that to say I am so impressed with those on the thread that are balancing MJ and long distance running - you are stars xx

I’m off the the US for 3 weeks in the summer. Was planning on taking a dose of MJ before I go and then having a couple of weeks off as I don’t want to take MJ with me as we’re travelling about a bit and it’s going to be hot. I also want to enjoy the food a bit, but I know the portions are huge and everything is so calorific! I know it’ll probably be a gain while I’m there, but it’s a big one-off holiday so it’ll worth it I think.

@seasidehunter I think someone said upthread that the goal is to be slimmer and happy, not slimmer and miserable. So enjoying yourself on holiday is fine, don't beat yourself up if you gain, and get back into more normal eating habits when you're back. It'll be fine. I certainly have zero intention of calorie counting on holiday!

I’m also going away for 3 weeks in the summer and was wondering what to do. As you say, I want to be able to enjoy myself and socialise- it’s a big family holiday with lots of lovely food available. But I don’t want to blow my hard work, feel uncomfortable and have regrets. I don’t think I’ll be able to take a pen with me even if I wanted to- the travel will be 24hrs and then will be staying in multiple locations (hotels, airbnbs, with relatives) during the holiday with lots of different family members (sharing a fridge!)

Can you predict what dose you will be on by then? Eg if you’re in the 7.5mg or higher will you take that as your last dose before the holiday, then take two weeks cold turkey then go back to the same dose? Or will you titrate down and titrate back up again?

I’m also wondering about how to order and receive the next dose I’ll need for after the holiday. I could get my mother in law to take the parcel in but obviously it needs to be taken out of the box and refrigerated and I haven’t told anyone but my partner that I’m on it. Thinking about whether I can work out delivery timings so it arrives just before I go, I put it in my fridge, ready to take on my return.