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.

Thank you everyone for the lovely comments.

The wedding was wonderful and the day could not have gone any better but I need a holiday to recover!

Everyone talking about holidays, we are off to Italy in September and staying on the Amalfi Coast, which will be interesting eating wise because I love a bowl of pasta!

We are also popping over to Spain for a couple of long weekends as we have friends that live there.

Beans on toast with cottage cheese and edamame beans anyone? 😀

I love the Amalfi coast @TheSpoonyNavyReader - been 4 times in the last 4 years. Whereabouts are you staying? If you want any restaurant recommendations, LMK, it's foodie paradise. And actually so easy to eat well there, an abundance of really tasty fresh vegetables and seafood, I never gain very much at all when on holiday there.

@Illbefinejustbloodyfine This is one of my favourite walks in the Beacons, not least because it starts and ends at Keepers Pond, which means I then jump in for a swim. It's wonderful on a warm sunny day. https://www.countryfile.com/go-outdoors/walks/walk-blorenge-monmouthshire

@Illbefinejustbloodyfine This is also a lovely walk https://wandereroftheworld.co.uk/brecon-beacons-walks-pontsticill-reservoir/
Loads of people stop for a picnic by the bridge, there's a good bit of flat ground down there, with a stunning view.

Back to weight loss chat - I experimented with a split dose this week by counting clicks. I found 7.5mg too much, it made me feel uncomfortably full, as well as extremely cold and a bit nauseous early in the week, but with a wear off by about day 5. So this week I had a 5mg dose on my usual jab day (Thursday) which was perfect, I felt full at the right moment (30 mins after eating) but could eat nutritiously and very happily. And then jabbed 2.5mg this morning when I could feel it wearing off a bit, which has taken me back up to comfortable levels, not feeling too cold and no nausea.

I've been on a lot of maintenance threads on other forums now that I'm so close, and there are a lot of people who seem to be successfully maintaining via a split dose early in their maintenance journey (dosage varies, but a 2.5mg/1.25mg split across the week seems to be very common for people like me who never went onto a high dose), and then gradually increasing the time between jabs and maintaining on a once a week or once every two week interval. So both titrating down, and increasing length. I need to have a think about what's going to work best for me. I don't want to regain - I can't afford the impact on my health.

This sounds so unappealing!!!!!!!!!!

Today I had to go to the M&S bakery for birthday goodies for DD - I breathed in the smells but didn’t buy anything for myself. Then I came home and baked a birthday cake without licking the bowl. Definitely still hear the food noise, I’m just a bit better at resisting it!

@seasidehunter I would have licked the bowl for sure :)

@popdepop I missed your post earlier - I know what you mean about being a bit sad. I was totally in denial about how much I was overeating and how much weight I was gaining. But it impacted so much of my life - lost confidence as well as strength, and put my health at huge risk.

But as you say - we're on the right track now. Onwards and downwards indeed..

Thanks for replying @TheBossOfMe I'm the same, lost confidence, avoided going out etc I wfh so easy to hide away. It is like I'm only seeing what I look like now and I was also in denial. I'm just having on of those days. My energy is very low, so I've rested today, but also thinking about where I am. I've lost 2 stone 2 pounds, need to lose a further 1 stone 4 to be BMI 30, then want to lose a further 2 stone, at least. I've been reading some other threads and there are so many people who are not at all empathetic about overweight/obese people. It's awful to read 😕

It certainly wasn’t cordon bleu, and I’d never choose it in a restaurant, but it got me my protein up for that day 😀

@popdepop Over 2 stone down is absolutely incredible, that's taken willpower, not just Mounjaro. If my ropey mental maths is right, that means you've already achieved 40% of your final goal. That's bloody wonderful!

You're absolutely right about the hatred and lack of empathy - bar that one thread that a few of us piled onto, I tend to stay away from those threads, they're not good for my self esteem and mental health. I'd say that I am usually a fairly robust person with a Teflon hide, but not when it comes to my weight or appearance in general. It's not a particularly attractive characteristic to be vain, and at some point I need to think properly about why so much of my self-esteem hinges on my appearance, especially as I'm 52 so aging now, but we're all human!

Some people are just arseholes though and WLI threads seem to attract them (particularly the thick as mince ones who think WLIs magically melt fat with no effort at all). Same as the benefit bashing posters etc - just awful keyboard warriors lacking human decency or empathy. I genuinely think they must be really unhappy people to be so dreadful - and I don't think most people are actually that awful, forums like this do attract a certain type because of the anonymity. Don't give them headspace. They suck air out of the balloon. Keep your balloon full by surrounding yourself with people who give you air.

Also @popdepop do think about whether 7.5mg is too high a dose for you. It absolutely was for me, felt freezing, too tired, lacking brainpower and veered between feeling overfull and ravenous as the week went on. I know loads of prescribers say that you don't get an effective dose on lower concentrations - but this thread along with many others is anecdotal evidence that that might not be true. There's nothing wrong with going down a dose - you've lost really amazingly on a lower dose. You're the only person who can decide that - but don't let a dosing schedule that's based on other people's responses to MJ decide that. We all respond really differently.

@TheBossOfMe yes it did cross my mind about reducing the dose. I've been wiped out, very little energy and felt weak. I've eaten more tonight and feel slightly better.
Yeah there really are some cruel people who hide behind the screen to get some sort of kick it seems. I don't let it effect me, it's just sad really and reflective of them. I guess it is designed to hit a nerve.
I just want to be healthy and feel better about myself. I'm week 10 day 3 now. What week are you on?

Oh @popdepop I feel the same. I've been a bit emotional today about the whole MJ thing. Ive lost alot less than some people on here I've lost 16 pounds in 10 weeks but that's still really good although there's realistically another 4 stone to go. I've never lost weight this easy on other "diets". I'm starting to realise that maybe none of it was my fault and whatever is "wrong" with me that caused me to overeat then the MJ is fixing it. I keep saying to my husband "is this how normal people feel around food" but to him it is normal of course. I feel sad for the woman I was before, the woman who desperately wanted and needed to lose weight but would literally eat in secret in the car because her brain was screaming at her so much to eat for whatever reason. But now I realise none of this was my fault and I have this literally life changing medication and I'm so grateful. Im just eating 3 small meals a day and dont need anything else, MJ has taken away that need.

It's literally a miracle drug.

Well done on your weight loss @Fatmumslim01
For me it seemed to go from one extreme to another. After my son was born 18 years ago I lost 5 stone and maintained that until 2020. I was at the gym most days, training for 10k, half marathons etc for years. Covid hit and wfh and I started to gain. Then a relationship breakup. I've literally hidden away since wfh. On a positive note, I've had 2 promotions. However, the additional responsibility, stress led me to comfort eat and just felt too tired to get to the gym and it gradually went on, to the stage I just kept eating as I was in denial. Without MJ I don't think I would have done it. I've felt awful meeting new people in new job as I am not 'me' but I though I was, if thar makes sense. I just want it off now. I want to be healthy and fit. But to get when I was it another 5 stone loss to go, but I was very thin and I'm older now so probably won't go that far..
I'm pleased it's working for you and reduced the noise. Strangely when I'm at goal weight I don't get the noise.. very odd, like I sat I maintained my weight for 13 ish years! but also hit peri too, so maybe it's that

@popdepop You sound really similar to me in one respect - life events triggered gains. But I wish I could say that at lower weights I don't have food noise - I've had food noise continuously even on MJ. I'm obsessed with food - I think about what I'm going to have for lunch or dinner from the moment I get up until dinner is done. And spend hours looking up recipes and food planning. I actually am coming to terms with that though - it's a genuine hobby for me, my dream in semi-retirement is to run a cookery school. Shoot me 😂I think I maybe have a form of OCD about food. It's absolutely continuous noise. Nothing changes that. I hate it but need to learn to live with it and not let it rule my life or make me overeat anymore. I kept weight under control via exercise when I was younger, the reality is that I'm not always going to be able to do that. So I absolutely need to rewire my brain about food. This isn't an easy journey at all.

@popdepop - sorry, forgot to say, just started week 12. Week 10 was a low point for me, so made the decision to go down to a split dose in week 11. 7.5 was really not good for me in a single dose but seems to be ok as a split 5/2.5 dose,

I have to agree separately I could eat them all but not together 😂😂

@TheBossOfMe do you have an addictive personality? I think I do, I have phases of it. One I'm into something I'm really focused. So exercise, diet, work etc or whatever else it may be. Is it possible to channel that energy into something else if you train your body I wonder? I think MJ does allo that. Have you tried any therapy?
I know, it certainly isn't easy

Back from another weekend away. Before I went Friday I’d just managed to get rid of the 4 pounds gained through my last holiday, am hopeful I will have not gained as much as that this time as less drinking wine! Food was fine again apart from one takeaway but I had a v small portion. The rest of the time I ate similar to what I would at home. But will report back tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed it’s either maintain or a much smaller gain than last time anyway!

I am also off to the USA later this year but find there is loads of options in California where we are going for healthy eating. Probs cos they all look like teeny tiny models! 😂

@popdepop I'll answer that properly tomorrow, wrangling teenagers tonight! But didn't want to leave you unanswered. Yes, I have an addictive personality and am cognisant about not getting into disordered eating as a result. And I see a therapist and have done since I left my marriage a few years ago.

None of this is easy. If it was we would all have done this years ago. We're all putting the work in.

@TheBossOfMe yeah I totally understand, I'm the same, around being aware of the potential disordered eating too. I hope you have a restful night. I'm hoping I sleep tonight for work tomorrow as I also understand around the cognitive function when you're on too high a dose. I'll see how this week is. I'm hoping today is the worst as it is 72 hrs later and the rest of the week will improve

I am on 7.5 and trying to move up to 10 but when I applied it said i wasn’t eligible because I have gallstones. It didn’t do this at 7.5. This was on med express. Has anyone else had this issue?

I had similar also with medexpress. Tried to reorder my 5mg and it says I was not eligible although it didn't say why. None of my medical information has changed. I left it and tried again a few hours later and it worked so must have been a glitch or something. Have you tried again?