March 2025 starters Thread 5

[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.

Some of us are now hitting the 12 week mark, some of us are nearly at their goal, some halfway and some still have a way to go, but we are all losing even if it’s half a pound a week. We have all come so far and are making a difference to our health.

What are you all like!?🤣 I'm post menopausal and not on HRT so if I suddenly acquire a raging libido then MJ really is a miracle drug.

Checking in from my little holiday. I don't know whether it's the addition of some heat but I've certainly not felt any less suppression. More like more. The portions feel big and I've probably left half on my plate every time. Plenty of protein though, mostly from, as predicted, greek yogurt, chicken souvlaki and feta. 😁 I've requested salad instead of chips and that's been fine. I have fancied a glass of wine each night though, but small and one has felt like the limit.

Weirdly there's scales in our hotel room (or maybe that's normal and I've never cared to look before!) so I dared this morning and I'm 15st 9 so nothing gained and a little lost.

Sorry to hear about gouty issues, hope they resolve soon! And well done @TryingMJ that's as really good place to be three months in!

Morning all,

Weekly weigh in and -1lb which I'm happy with as TOTM (again) and my first mini goal hit

SW 18st 7lb
CW 16st 13lb
Next mini goal 16st 4lb (pre baby weight)
TW 11st 7lb

Loss to date - 22lbs

Lots of great losses especially the 2st and 3 stone milestones and the healthy bmi!

I've had nausea and bloating all week so skipping my jab this week as I'm away on the weekend and don't want to make it worse as feeling better today.

I'm still on 2.5 so don't mind missing a week and when I feel like this I don't want to eat anything and that's not the way I want to lose weight.

Oh, ignore my comment about gout, wrong thread!

@TryingMJ wow congratulations - what a shift!

Hi to all my MJ friends this thread is such a supportive place and makes me laugh so much to the point I spit out my water (once it would have been wine)

I have had a really busy week with rehearsals, meeting the bride’s family who have flown in from around the world, my brother and his family have also flown in from the other side of the world which we had no idea about so lots of take aways, meals out and wine so it’s been a non stop celebration.
At the start of the week it looked like I was going to have a huge loss but I think all the high salt and TOTM and a cold of epic proportions have put a stop to that.

Week 12 weigh in
SW 13st 4lbs
CW 10st 9lbs
TW 9st 7lbs
3lbs off this week.

I can definitely join the club of people who's hormones have been impacted. Last night I had the worst cramps I can ever remember having! I've actually always been pretty lucky in that respect so it was a shock to find myself basically passed out on the bathroom floor at 2am because I was in so much pain!

My other weird side effect this week is another first for me... Actually WANTING to do exercise. I've been really trying to focus on doing exercise and have been using our home treadmill most days but am visiting my parents for a couple of days and have actually missed doing the short "runs"?! I feel like these drugs have totally changed my personality!

@TryingMJ @popdepop Brilliant losses - really amazing!

@TryingMJ I'm definitely learning that I need to pop pounds in the bank before a holiday or even a weekend away. I absolutely don't want to trade off eating lovely food when away, it's one of the joys of travelling for me, so losing ahead to not have a big gain whilst away is a good strategy for me. I'm ashamed to say that I've come back from a two week holiday before more than 6lb heavier 😫

@GiveMeWordGames That sounds like a lovely holiday diet, lovely tasty fresh food. Hope you're really enjoying yourself.

Going back down to 5mg was 100% the right thing for me to do - I ate well yesterday without feeling like I was force-feeding myself, slept really well, and don't have that horrible overfull feeling first thing.

Pre-weekend accountability weigh in

SW 10st 4.6lb/144.6lb BMI 25.7 (prescribed MJ because of diabetes risk and hideous waist measurement)
CW 9st 0.9lb/126.9lb BMI 22.5 - 17.7lb down, 78% of target achieved.
GW 8st 10lb/122lb (22.6lb total target loss, 4.9lb to go) BMI 21.6

Loss by week:
W1 (2.5) 5.5lb
W2 (2.5) 1.3lb
W3 (2.5) 0.7lb (ate out loads)
W4 (5) 3.3lb
W5 (5) 0.5lb gain (ate out loads)
W6 (5) 3.8lb (Post Easter weekend plus period)
W7 (5) 2.6lb
W8 (5) 1.5lb gain (BH weekend away, ate out loads)
W9 (7.5) 1.1lb (NY trip)
W10 (7.5) 1.1lb (Hakkasan and weekend away)
W11 (7.5) 0.3lb so far

That's a minute weight loss so far this week but given the ginormous amount of food/ice cream/cake/booze calories I ingested at Chelsea, I'm good with that. I know I need to watch myself this weekend, but have meal planned carefully for home cooked meals and menu planned already for dinners out, so hopefully will be OK. I definitely need to find more time for exercise, I've been so busy at work that I've slacked on that.

The last few pounds are slow though!

Amazing loss well done x

I've started having periods again 😭 I had an endometrial ablation a few years ago due to AWFUL periods. They were much better afterwards (didn't stop like they were supposed to, but managable) then, over a year they just petered out 8 months period free (I'm 47 so that will prob play a part) until last month when I had a very light period abd this month when I had a proper 7 day period . 😭

@TheSpoonyNavyReader That sounds like a wonderful week, how amazing! 3lb off under those circumstances feels like a giant win!

I've just realised that I read my scales totally wrong this morning when I looked at my app to see if hideous body fat composition is any better (nope!). I've lost more than I thought this week. I didn't have my contact lenses in first thing, I have terrible eyesight. So my actual pre-weekend weigh in is:

SW 10st 4.6lb/144.6lb BMI 25.7 (prescribed MJ because of diabetes risk and hideous waist measurement)
CW 9st 0.1lb/126.1lb BMI 22.3 - 18.5lb down, 81.9% of target achieved.
GW 8st 10lb/122lb (22.6lb total target loss, 4.1lb to go) BMI 21.6

Loss by week:
W1 (2.5) 5.5lb
W2 (2.5) 1.3lb
W3 (2.5) 0.7lb (ate out loads)
W4 (5) 3.3lb
W5 (5) 0.5lb gain (ate out loads)
W6 (5) 3.8lb (Post Easter weekend plus period)
W7 (5) 2.6lb
W8 (5) 1.5lb gain (BH weekend away, ate out loads)
W9 (7.5) 1.1lb (NY trip)
W10 (7.5) 1.1lb (Hakkasan and weekend away)
W11 (7.5) 1.1lb so far

I'm really happy with that - not quite enough in the bank going into a very sociable long weekend, but it'll do. Slow and steady - I am the tortoise of losers 😂

@popdepop @Illbefinejustbloodyfine Having never missed a period (I'm about to turn 53, but appparently nowhere near menopause, not even really in peri according to hormone levels), I missed one right at the beginning of starting MJ. And then had a 3 week period in April. Due on in 3 days so waiting to see what joys that brings.

Now I've got a bit of nausea, all I want is mugs of tea and ready salted crisps. I have not turned into the salad-eating healthy queen that I was aiming for. Darn.

Morning everyone!

So impressed by all your losses and NSVs, it’s been so interesting reading on how MJ affected everyone’s hormones. It’s a bummer that for every positive story there’s one horrid bloody crampy one 😞

@ShineyGreenleave that poor postman in peace 🤣

I’ve had a slight gain this week after my time away (and truly abysmal eating). It’s a miracle that I only seem to have gained around 1.3lbs (highest reading was, interestingly, around 3 days after coming back). Today is day 6 and I’m back to my lowest weight - even marginally lower - from before vacation.

To be fair, this is a really good result for me - in the past, I’d stuff my face while away, but none of that would be truly satisfying as it wouldn’t be exactly what I crave - then I’d come home and eat all the things that I craved while away - and boom, +5lbs there to stay. It was really easy mentally to get back on track and I’m not feeling deprived - I was actually looking forward to being home and back to my routine.

In another news, yesterday I discovered that my go-to office lunch - the chicken&rice box from Hop - is a few calories short of being 1000kcal 🫠 and here I was thinking it’s a relatively balanced option. Not sure if it was the WLI or mental block, but it kept me full for the next 6h, and I only had like 150kcal in snacks later in the day (not counting breakfast). So stayed in my deficit but it was close - it’s mental that chicken+rice+salad can be 400kcal or it can be 1000kcal.

OK. Back again with day 6 of the same weight. Frustrating but also weirdly impressed that I can be exactly the same for 6 days running without even a smidgen of an ounce up or down.

This is the lowest I have been for a very very very long time. At least 8 years. But I am still only just in to the overweight category from obese so a very long way to go too.

These threads have been so useful because i am not panicking yet. Just a bit resigned to it. I think this is a plateau because of the body set weight theory where my body is just sitting with a new lower weight and will take its sweet time to acknoweldge that it is ok to move down again.

First 10mg last night. No side effects so far. I have been very lucky that way.

So should i start taking bets on when the scales will start moving again?!

@needtolose70lbis your current weight a random value or something that you used to be your “normal” weight at some point? I’ve read a few people saying that once they hit a weight that was their “normal” at some point (they gained up to there and not past it for a while), the loss likes to stall there, too

@TheBossOfMe I am a tortoise too :) Love that description! I had 5 1/2 stone in total to lose and so I know I’m in it for the long haul.

I haven’t been brilliant at keeping records of when I’ve weighed etc so not 100% sure of weekly losses but I do know I have lost 23lbs in 12 weeks. Without really trying and it being straightforward and easy! It’s chuffing brilliant.

I’ll be here for the long haul too! I had a total of 8st 3lbs to lose. I have ‘allowed’ myself just over a year to do it but I’m hoping it won’t take quite that long. I turn 40 in late April next year and would like to be at a healthy weight before then.

not sure if consider myself a tortoise. Perhaps more of a giant sloth….

hello all, after my complaining about slow loses yesterday, weighed today and another 0.5kg down, taking total loss in just under 11wks to 10kg

@LilyLondon I'm having to be really careful about office lunch choices as well. My go to was a Leon rice box of some sort - turns out most of them are around 600ish calories. Oops. Fab result on weight post holiday though. Like you, I could easily gain 5 or 6lb on holiday, if not more. Pre-injury, I'd shift that in a week or two. Post, not so much.

That's interesting about the set weight theory - I'm round about the weight that has consistently been my comfortable weight that I could easily maintain, give or take a pound or two, without much effort pre-injury. So this is definitely a weight that was my "normal" for a very long time (certainly most of my late 20s/30s/40s). My goal has been set as lower than that now, which is more like the weight that I was in my late teens/early 20s, for medical reasons - which is possibly why I'm finding these last few pounds hard, my body might be trying to maintain at that later set weight.

It's probably around a point that was normal then and also the starting point for a successful diet time before that when I was on the bootcamp low carb thing. 8 years ago I think i only dropped another half a stone max and put that on and more within a few weeks/months. The low carb time i lost a couple of stone i think, which is getting me to my first proper target weight this time. Only that would mean a loss of 70lb....

It is interesting to think about these set points or sticking points and it definitley would have made me give up or cheat a bit in other diets. Now I feel like I am building much better habits. I just have to keep plodding on and hope that I am right!

I’m definitely at my pre-pregnancies set point right now… + the vacation gain + I’ve not had TOTM since starting my 3rd pen, so I’ve only lost 2lbs while on it (compared to 7.3lbs on first (0.25mg) pen, and 6.4lbs on second (0.5mg) pen). I’m now scratching my head whether to increase the dosage for my next pen or keep on the 0.5mg. I’m due to bleed any day now (WLIs have shortened my cycle a bit last time so not sure, I’ve never been regular anyway), so I guess if I don’t get a whoosh when that happens, I’ll increase to 0.75mg 🤷‍♀️

A big thank you to everyone who supported me through my 3-4 week plateau - previously I think that's where I do a 'diets don't work I'll never lose weight' and give up - we're off again and moving down - 2.4lb off this week.
SW 196 I think
CW 175
If I lose one more pound I'll have lost my baby weight (baby is currently 25 years old 🤣)
Another half a stone and that's my wedding weight so that's my next mini goal
Good luck everyone and have faith - I'm now living proof a plateau doesn't last forever!

@mumofmanydaughterofone That's brilliant, well done, and really encouraging for the rest of us who are plateauing or losing really slowly.

I keep making mental notes of all the things that are helping both physically and mentally, and one of the things that I've noticed is how much I'm actually enjoying understanding the science behind both WLIs and diet overall on this journey. Being on MJ is obviously a financial investment, and I wonder if to a degree that's helping keep me determined that this is going to work for me - so I've been doing loads of reading about WLIs, nutrition, health and wellness. I never used to read stuff like that, but I'm finding it absolutely fascinating. It's making me make lots of tiny adjustments to my diet and lifestyle that I'd never really thought about doing before.

Tiny example - getting seeds into my diet. I just had some scrambled eggs for lunch (WFH today) - but instead of having them on really buttery toast, I had them with no toast, but with a sprinkle of pumpkin, flax and sunflower seeds on top. Eating seeds was never ever part of my diet (unless you count seeded bread) - turns out they're both incredibly good for you, and taste utterly gorgeous on scrambled eggs, which more than compensated for not having the buttery toast. Bloody delish, and it would never have occurred to me to do that had I not read quite a bit about the health benefits of seeds.

Before I started this journey, I thought I had a really good diet, just ate too large portions. Now I know that whilst it wasn't bad (very low on UPF, fairly balanced, lots of veg), it was very far from optimal, but is now slowly getting to a much better place. There are some things I draw the line at (kale juice I'm looking at you), but I'm trying lots of new things, and most of the time finding I actually like them. I grew up eating that horrible beetroot that you get pre-packed (thanks Mum!) and thought beets were vile. Nope, not when cooked nicely and not left stewing in their own juices. They're gorgeous as well, especially in a salad with some goats cheese.

See, still a foodie who constantly thinks about food 😂That hasn't gone away at all, I'm just making much, much better choices of what and how much to eat. Educating my brain as well as my mouth and stomach, and really enjoying it.

@TheBossOfMe same regarding the research on wellness and nutrition! Only I realised that I eat WAY more UPF than I wanted to believe - most of my meals (except for lunch, which I cook from scratch with Gousto) had UP simple carbs in vast quantities. And were really calorific and not nutritious. Now I started looking at ingredients lists and have improved my choices even in items like yoghurts. I also upped my protein levels from barely-there to sort of fine (above recommended daily grams, but still below what’s suggested when you’re loosing weight and trying to maintain muscle).

The impact of WLls on my state of mind in this regard cannot be understated - I found it absolutely impossible in the past to swap objects of my cravings for healthier items. In fact, I always tried to fit in as many "pleasure" items in my diets as possible, so I had a really hard time eating real food (and feeling full). Some of my issues with food are also related to my autism (I live on safe foods and used to get panic attacks over "unsafe" foods being served on my plate). So Wegovy has been absolutely revolutionary for me in that regard.

@mumofmanydaughterofoneah well done for breaking your plateau! You give us hope 😊