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.

By great, I mean seperate to my fat stomach. It all blended into one before.

Well I wasn’t feeling itchy until you all started talking about feeling itchy and now my skin is crawling!

@FlamethrowersI’m here with my usual downer on things. A significant note of caution on the body fat ratio ‘scanning’ scales. The tech that they use requires SIGNIFICANTLY more than just a scale. You can read online that it has been broadly debunked for at home use. Ultimately the tech they claim to use is real but in order for it to actually scan you it requires far more than an at home scale. You can get home machines which do it but unless your scales have waist height extensions which feature hand grips with sensors your scale is not actually scanning anything. They’re just plugging your height and weight into a formula. This is just the next generation of when BMI was new and revolutionary and then it took a few years for everyone to realise that it’s still just a number and just a formula and doesn't factor in any personal factors. So I’m sorry if this bursts your bubble. But equally I hope you can ignore the sensation of being a ‘disappointing pork chop’

Hellooo! It's been a while. Haven't been on this group but have been slogging away at MJ still.

Slowly dosed myself up to 5mg and now have a 7.5mg pen sitting in the fridge.

SW Xmas - 13st
SW MJ 1 March 12st6lb
CW 11st
GW 10st

Weight loss has been nice and steady at 1.5-2lb a week. Had so many NSV, most of my old clothes now fit me. I see it, I really see it and it all just came together a week or so ago.

Had hoped the next pen would be my last but I envisage needing another one.

Hoping I'll be at target at the end of July.

In the 'trending' section of my mumsnet, I noticed a post about putting on weight after stopping MJ so I decided to have a nosey. I'm really worried about coming to the end of my MJ journey, it seems almost all people put all the weight back on after stopping WLI. I am intending to go on a maintenance dose once i get to my goal weight, but really do need to speak to my pharmacist at Superdrug at my next appt (all of mine are F2F) to discuss options and what they will/wont allow. For example, i've heard some places will let you go back on it within 12 months if necessary, but I'm not sure if they do that or not - I will check.

All you lovely people talk about how we are creating new habits, creating a new lifestyle in terms of eating and exercising and resetting our plateau weights. And it all makes absolute sense, I fully intent to follow all of the wonderful advice I read on here and am filled with positivity everytime I read our thread. Then I read the one below and thought...I guess this is going to be harder than I thought!

I'm not sure what the point of my post is to be honest....I know the answers.....just thinking aloud (and worrying!)

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5335691-piling-the-weight-back-on-when-stopping-mj

Morning everyone

Thank you @mumofmanydaughterofone I did not even think the confidence as a NSV so I will add it to my list of NSV.

@GiveMeWordGames mirrors in my hairdressers as not to bad as you do sit quite far away from them, and amazing that you have dropped a size in next which I always find to be on the small side.

@Illbefinejustbloodyfine lets us know how your hair appointment went, it’s really important to treat ourselves especially on MJ when the loses start to stall, as if you are anything like me I just give up, but I am now in the mindset of I will look better and be healthier.

@Overjiggly thank you my side profile is good because I had a Tummy tuck years ago, after I had my third pregnancy which was twins weighing over 6 and a half pound I needed help! Congratulations on being so close to your first goal.

@TryingMJ well done on your losses this week.

Yesterday I went shopping with one of my daughters and we went into Zara, which I have avoided for years as their clothes never fitted me properly and if I did buy anything it was an extra large. I wandered off in there and found a couple of things that I liked and picked up an extra large and large, went into the changing room and they both were too big, in the end I got myself a medium a bloody medium is mind blowing.

Week 11 weight in is throughly disappointing as I have lost 1lb, I have tried everything to lose this week, I have even had a lymphatic drainage massage. In 4 weeks I have lost 6lbs. I am trying to stay positive as I have now have lost over 15kg which is 193,308 bumble bees.

Week 11
SW 13st 4lbs
CW 10st 12lbs
TW 9st 7lbs

@Amjam2025 Yeah, I've been reading that thread. Don't let it get you down. Firstly there's someone with a serious ED quoting a crap experiment involving the grand total of 36 blokes in their early 20s done in the 1950s. Someone with an ED taking about WLIs is like a lot of recovering alcoholics talking about booze or someone who got into massive debt talking about credit cards It's all filtered through a very skewed lens.

I think it's clear a lot of us on this thread and elsewhere are not just blindly eating less of the same crappy food, and are changing lifestyle including exercising more.

Also it took me 20 years to get from a healthy weight to the weight at which I started MJ. It would be frankly bizarre if I managed to put all that back on in a year.

I've been reading it too. I had to sit on my hands to stop myself replying to some of the comments because, quite frankly, what is the point - people have preconceptions about WLIs and are determined to believe every anecdote they hear/see that supports their narrative. If nothing else it confirmed my decision to tell no-one other than DH about taking MJ.

There seem to be lots of ideas that we're all eating about 500 calories a day, but that those calories come from bags of wotsits and donuts. I also had to laugh at the person who was 'why don't you get out of your SUV and try walking'.... I wanted to scream at her that I managed to find myself with a BMI of 30 whilst regularly running marathons so I'm not sure going for a little walk is going to work.

It's true - we do all have to think about what happens when we reach GW, but I've not seen any of us seeing this as a magic, quick, solution that won't require effort in the long term. We're trying to make changes and we're trying to exercise. We all seem to be aware that there is another journey to manage once we reach GW - but I don't see how that is any different to any other person that loses weight? How does anyone go about maintaining a loss? Regaining weight is always a risk. Why is everyone so determined to make out that WLIs are somehow different - return to bad habits and you regain - that's not rocket science! I think we all know that!

I am going on there and commenting, I love my SUV it has cooling seats so I can cool down coming home from the gym!

@TheSpoonyNavyReader go get'em! 😁That thread is majorly pissing me off.

@Amjam2025 - that thread is super annoying, not least because it's really obvious why the OP has put weight back on, she says herself that her portion sizes have gone up a lot, and what she's eating in a day isn't exactly conducive to maintaining. We all know that we're going to have to change our eating and exercise habits for life if we want to maintain once at goal, but MJ is helping us do that. I've been slowly re-educating myself about what a "lose" portion size and balanced plate of food looks like, and when I get to goal I'll do the same thing for a "maintain" plate - and it's very different to what I was eating in "gain" phase. I know that because I'm super sad and take photos of all my food 😂

And I now absolutely know for a fact that I cannot eat breakfast, and cannot eat late - I have to stick to a 16:8 pattern, anything else is rubbish for me, and instantly goes straight onto my middle. I'd never really understood that the impact of when I eat matters as much as what I eat.

And I have to have to have to exercise religiously - because of my height and my shit metabolism (thanks PCOS, peri and everything in-between) if I don't my base calorie need is actually really low, so I need to create the extra calorie need by moving a lot.

And I have got more comfortable with being a bit hungry at times - MJ hasn't taken that away completely. In gain phase, as soon as I felt a bit peckish, I ate. Now I don't until mealtimes.

There is a lot of evidence that many people do regain a lot - but if you really dig into why, it's because they just relied on suppression to restrict calories, without really trying to go on a journey to change eating habits for life. I maintained at my higher weight for quite a long time (like that's something to be congratulated about!) so I know I know how to maintain. It was losing that I needed help with - and MJ has given me the space to do that.

It's absolutely not going to be easy (and I'll give myself the allowance of a couple of pounds of bounce weight) but so many of us are hyper focused on changing habits not just suppressing appetite, that I'm optimistic.

Afternoon all. Checking in. About to go onto my 3rd pen today and increase to 7.5mg where I hope to stay.
SW 16 stone 11
CW 14 stone 12
GW initially 11 stone.

Very happy with progress.
NSV a bath towel fits around me. 5 inches lost from.waist. I would not have got here without MJ.

Hoping the SE aren't to bad increasing to 7.5 x

Weigh in today and tentatively I think I might have dropped off my plateau - don't want to get too excited in case it flattened next week but after having lost no more than a pound in total since mid April today I'm down 1 -yay!
so now 177lb (17 down since early March)
also did my measurements - lost 15cm (!!!!) off my hips / tummy; 13cm (!!!) from my waist and 2 from my chest haha I'll soon be falling over as too top heavy (pretty top heavy anyway)

"A comprehensive analysis by the University of Oxford, encompassing 11 studies with 6,370 participants, found that individuals typically regained approximately 9.6 kg within a year of stopping GLP-1 medications like Mounjaro. This trend suggests a full return to baseline weight within 20 months . Another study reported an average regain of 14% of the lost weight within a year after discontinuation "

Individuals who successfully maintain weight loss after stopping GLP-1 therapies often engage in the following practices:

• Structured Lifestyle Programs: Participation in programs like the NHS-backed Second Nature, which emphasize behavioral changes and nutritional education, has been linked to sustained weight loss .
• Gradual Tapering: Slowly reducing the medication dosage while simultaneously implementing lifestyle modifications may help mitigate rapid weight regain .
• Ongoing Support: Regular follow-ups with healthcare providers, psychological counseling, and support groups contribute to long-term success .

📊 Factors Influencing Weight Regain

• Dosage: Higher doses of tirzepatide have been associated with greater initial weight loss. However, the correlation between dosage and the extent of weight regain upon discontinuation remains unclear.
• Starting BMI: Individuals with higher baseline BMIs tend to experience more significant weight loss during treatment. Yet, they may also be more susceptible to weight regain after stopping the medication.
• Duration of Treatment: Longer treatment periods may lead to more substantial weight loss, but the risk of regain persists if lifestyle changes are not maintained post-treatment.

I definitely worry about weight regain often. Because I'm still on 2.5 I get moments of real hunger and thinking about food and the only thing that stops me necking the whole slab of creamy feta is the Mounjaro in my system.
I agree that 16:8 is a great way to go though I have found it hard on those days when I want to excercise in the morning - if I don't get some carbs in I get dizzy.

@Flamethrowers The tapering bit is interesting, I've been lurking on some maintenance threads, and the people who tapered seem to be finding it easier than the people who went cold turkey. I definitely intend to taper down and then stick to a maintenance dose for a while.

@Flamethrowers I find a daily electrolyte stops me feeling dizzy exercising, I always do my workouts/runs first thing, but I prefer to do it on an empty stomach anyway. I drink an electrolyte as soon as I get up, and 30 mins later I can exercise without the lightheaded problem.

This is what I intend to do, I have just reordered 7.5ml and will do another month on that, I will then go up to 10ml.
I have worked out that I need to lose 19lbs to get to my first target and I think I will then do another target of 9st and that will be 26lbs if I loss at the rate I am at the moment that will take me to the end of November.

Firstly on that thread there is a lot of naivety especially from the OP who stated that it took her 8 months to loose 3st didn’t change what she was eating just didn’t want it , then now the portions has increased it after going cold turkey . Some of the responses and the amount of posts are shocking clearly a debatable topic

I agree with @TheSpoonyNavyReader I plan to taper off slowly once near goal , one pen at a time until maintained and stabile and then eventually get off

I plan though that GW will be 1st lower then my actual goal weight as I am realistic expecting a stone weight gain when completely off, why because MJ has completely removed my water retention even on TOM so I will gain water weight back to some extent

there is a lot of unrealistic weight loss on other threads being posted eg 3 stone weight loss in 1 month , no one in our thread has even been close to that or unrealistic weight gain, someone posted they gained 2 st first month off MJ

when eventually off MJ it’s one thing we all have to learn is feeling hunger, and that when feeling is there you don’t actually have to eat. The hunger will scream as you haven’t felt it for so long just as the shock of not feeling it when starting . I think that will be a mental challenge most of us have to recognise and work through when that day arrives , and to be prepared for tough part of the journeys

Thanks. I have been trying this recently but for the personal training session (i am so weak!) the protein smoothie definitely helps. Mind you I am also finishing eating much earlier as I am not snacking

I am a 16:8er (more like a 18:6 intermittent faster most days) and commented on that other thread as it is my plan to help me try to maintain weight when coming off Mounjaro. I've done it for a year so well before starting injections and had lost a grand total of a stone so found it excellent for maintenance but less so for actual weight loss. I'm also planning on continuing to weigh weekly because I know from experience when I hid from the scales it was easy for me to live in denial and the weight just slowly pile on.

But I did build up to it and started with 12 hours of fasting and a 12 hour eating window and went from there. And I totally get it isn't for everyone. But we're all going to need some sort of plan for when we hit our goal whether that's a maintenance dose of Mounjaro, fasting, tracking calories or something else.

I found the other thread pretty annoying....like people are almost gleeful that those that have lost weight on Mounjaro may put the weight back on. I don't see the difference between that and any other diet or form of weight loss. People won't maintain their loss unless they change their habits long term but that's not a reason to demonise weight loss injections.

I intend to go back to 16:8 as found it doable. It was the dizziness and shakiness that led me off it but will wean myself back on. My exit ramp is going to be 1.25 for two months - that will take me into autumn which is always challenging - who doesn't want a big plate of cheesy carbs when it's dark and cold outside!

Sorry me again.
Any advice please 🙏
Yesterday lunch time I ate a 'questionable' yoghurt. I knew it was potentionally a bit dodgy but was cocky and ate it anyway. I knew the fridge it had been in was broken and probably hadn't been refrigerated for about 12 -14 hours the previous day.
Yesterday eve took 6.25mg of MJ as planned.
Last night I woke up at 2am with awful stomach pains and had to go the toilet for a big watery 💩 (sorry) went back to bed and woke up feeling fine this morning.
During the day today I have felt gradually worse. Horrendous sulphur burps, stomach pain, feeling off. Then, just now, I threw up! Loads. Don't know where it all came from!
Not sure if this is MJ SE because I have been getting negative SE recently but not thrown up before....the yoghurt?...or a sickness bug. Don't feel too bad now I've thrown up but certainly not 100%
Any ideas?

@Bipaloss I think you're absolutely right about learning to deal with being hungry. I'm actually not going to up a dose for my next pen, because 7.5mg feels like the right balance between a bit of appetite suppression but I still have hungry moments, and I don't want those to stop completely, because I'm learning to power through them. Usually by drinking water, but because salty/sour food is my thing, also recognising when it's just my taste buds wanting a hit, and popping a cornichon or olive in my mouth. Just one is usually enough to shut my brain up about wanting food until it's time for a meal.

Plus a lot of the early WLI patients lost huge amounts of weight very quickly - which is also true on some of the other MN WLI threads. There are some women on TikTok who post what they eat in a day on MJ - and it's like some kind of competitive undereating competition, with people talking about continuous 5/6lb losses every week for weeks. That's highly unlikely to be sustainable I suspect - it's relying entirely on appetite suppression rather than a healthy change in lifestyle. Remove the suppression and it probably does go back on. The OP in that thread admits she relied on all food noise being removed to just not eat very much because she didn't want it, rather than really overhauling her habits in a mindful way. That's not a great approach. I think the group on this thread are doing it all in a much more sensible way - lots of people keeping doses low, losing once past the initial whoosh at a really sensible rate, not just not eating but making sure we're eating well. Like I said, I'm optimistic about our chances.

@Amjam2025 I suspect that might be the yoghurt. I ate an out of date (by quite a long way!) yoghurt without realising, and to compound its out of dateness, it had been unrefrigerated in a picnic basket for about 8 hours so was warm, and I was absolutely horrendously sick for a day or two. I think it's the bacteria in it multiplying exponentially as it gets older and warm which irritates your stomach.