Mounjaro/Wegovy with > 5 stone/30kg to lose. Thread 8!

[MooBaggage]

Thread EIGHT - blimey we talk a lot! 😄 Anyone using weight loss injections to lose more than 5st/30lbs is very welcome, no matter what stage of the process you are no.

We're high on protein, low on carbs, upping the water and getting the fibre in any which way we can!

Please don't post discount codes as your post will be deleted - these need to go on the discount codes thread.

NSV!!

Am packing to go away tomorrow and my Next size 20 linen dresses fit!! I got them from Vinted about a month ago and they were too tight, so haven't touched them until this morning. They fit perfectly and I love them 😍

Am quite giddy 😬

The only thing in my wardrobe now that is too small, is a dress I bought from Vinted about 2 months ago - it's a Papaya size 20 dress and is gorgeous, but tiny... Honestly looks more like a size 16 and is still nowhere near fitting, even though I'm now in the vast majority of size 20 tops and 18 bottoms.

I'll try it again at the end of July - it would be perfect for my son's graduation, but I'm not sure it'll fit by then! I'm hoping to go to Barcelona in October, which is probably more realistic for it 😃

@flipflopson5thavenue , welcome to our lovely thread.
I do calorie count , mainly because I have to counter my optimism that most food is zero calories. I don’t do it very well because I struggle with maths, but I’m more accurate than guessing. I think you need to eat more mindfully, and you need to think about portion control. I also think that regular sugar and refined carbs will work against the mounjaro, but that’s an opinion. I think we all agree that mounjaro isn’t magic, if you dont think seriously about how you got fat, and what needs to change, and use this period to make those changes, then you may lose weight from the appetite suppression, but you may also lose hair and health, and not be able to sustain it. It does really help though.

@flipflopson5thavenue welcome! I roughly calorie count most days as mounjaro does not actually put me off eating anything. I focus more on protein and ensuring I am eating my veg. That tends to fill me up. I think it is mostly down to smaller portions and not snacking that has lead to the weight loss. If I have had or am planning an indulgence then I am stricter on the calorie counting the resr of the day.

Hi @flipflopson5thavenue I calorie count because while I have a tendency towards mindlessly drinking my calories in the form of iced lattes. They just slip down so easy and if I don’t keep track of them before I know it I’ve had my days worth of calories in caffeine form.

@MooBaggage yay for size 20 dresses, that’s wonderful and perfect timing for your holiday!

Lovely NSV @MooBaggage !

Hello @flipflopson5thavenue and welcome. I half-arsedly calorie count which means I read packaging and ballpark it or do a vague google when I'm reallly not sure. I don't write it down, and I don't track because that would bore the pants off me and have the opposite effect, ie it would make me rebel against the whole business. I'm probably unusual on here in never having consciously dieted my entire life - I've always hated the very concept and everything that goes with it. Which is why I love MJ so much because it doesn't feel like dieting at all.

I have, however, turned into a daily weigher, which is bizarre because, again, until I started MJ I've never owned scales.

@flipflopson5thavenue Hi and welcome!
I calorie count and weigh everything. I use the calories more as a guide to ensure I am eating as much as possible whilst still losing weight, I dont want my BMR dropping.
I am lucky that I dont really get supression and can happily eat normal size portions. I typically eat twice a day and do TRE, these I have done for many, many years way before it was a thing.
The wonderful thing MJ does for me, is it has turned off the food noise, the obsessing and the using food as a reward or punishment. This has been the life changing thing for me. I got fat because of my head not my stomach.

Once you start taking it, you will get to know how it affects you and will work out what works best for you.

Good luck!

@flipflopson5thavenue This is great advice.

I don't calorie count, but similar to @MabelSpan I do time restricted eating - eat twice a day (decent portions), no snacking, but if I want something sweet/treat/dessert, I will have it directly after my meal so as not to raise my insulin more than twice a day.

I follow a keto way of eating, so (in my head) count my macros: fat, protein and carbs. Every so often I'll bung it in to Carb Manager (to ensure I remain on track, but it is usually fine). I am fairly strict with carbs (I don't count veggies, and eat a tonne of veggies).It's become a way of life now, and MJ has kept me focussed and motivated.

I don't get suppression and am fortunate enough never to have had food noise. I did have "wine noise" though, so hit that on the head in January and have never looked back. I have never had side effects to MJ.

My portions are a "normal" size and I eat a lot of vegetables.

I agree with others, the key is to try to avoid sugar and reduce refined carbs, as they are not your friend on MJ. I think the people on this thread, having a lot to lose, have used MJ in a mindful way; to adopt a way of eating/living that they can maintain for life. MJ seems to have switched that on, on all of us, which feels magical.

Welcome @flipflopson5thavenue
I counted calories at first, partly to make sure I wasn’t eating too much, but also to make sure I was eating enough on days of high suppression. I also found it useful to know how much protein I was eating as I have never tracked that before. I don’t need it so much now as I have an idea of what’s in most of the food I’m eating.

Great NSV @MooBaggage 💪
Enjoy your holiday
Mine this morning is that my not so smart scales have my body age as just the one year over my actual age instead of two 🤨

I think I might have some thyroid overactivity coming on so have booked a blood test for next week. I’m suddenly losing much more quickly than usual (4lbs in the last 5 days instead of 1lb a week if I’m lucky). So will have to make the most of that for now because treatment inevitably leads to weight gain 😣
So I might need MJ for a bit longer than I hoped. I have to say that if the other symptoms weren’t so unpleasant / dangerous I’d definitely keep quiet about it 🙂
Anyone else have a dodgy thyroid?

@gimmemounjaro Yes I've got Graves' disease, which meant a bonkers overactive thyroid gland in 1999 (the last time I was in a size 16, having lost a ton of weight due to the Graves and ended up in hospital!), then had 2 x lots of radioactive iodine to get rid of my thyroid gland completely, so I take thyroxine (hurrah for free prescriptions!).

I had a blood test last month and my levels are OK, but I'm kind of expecting to go overactive as I get smaller - am thinking my thyroxine dosage should decrease along with my size at some point?! Am on 150mcg a day and should be able to spot the symptoms so will ask for a blood test as and when I feel bonkers again 😀

@flipflopson5thavenue I don’t religiously calorie count but I do have some staples that I worked out the calories for and when I have something new I have a look at calories and protein. I just try to have a rough idea but I don’t track it in an app or anything. Everyone will find what works for them, but whilst I don’t count I have a much better awareness now. Like when I’m cooking I use much less oil as I really hadn’t realised how many calories were in oil so i just poured a glug and didn’t think about it. Now I know I am much more careful. I may still use olive oil in some salad dressing but I am aware now. Knowing invariably either makes me not use it or use in moderation.

@MooBaggage You are bloody smashing it - well done! Such a joy to get into clothes that were too tight. No better feeling!

I would say Papaya dresses are generally smaller made, but the rate you are going you'll be into your gorgeous dress in no time. Have a fabulous break. I am desperate to get to Barcelona too - I may well book that for my next holiday. Let us know if you book for October.

Back home tomorrow to be reunited with my scales which I have a love-hate relationship with😂 @gimmemounjaro take a year. I am 54, and the cheeky fuckers have got me at 57.

I'm no expert on thyroid, so others with more experience can advise, but I will say that I have come across loads of folk having to tweak their meds when their thyroid function improves with weight-loss/health improvements.

That’s interesting - I had radioactive iodine in 2020 and was amazingly lucky that it took out just the right amount and I’ve never had to take thyroxine and been pretty stable. I still put on weight though, I think I’d probably been running a bit hot for years. Plus I suspect the ‘normal’ range is quite wide and you can be a bit under or over without meeting the threshold for treatment. My endocrinologist was not to be persuaded unfortunately. The first consultant I saw, about 20 years ago, described my thyroid as “moth-eaten” so I’ve been lucky really.

Haha @NewbieMJ I’m 54 too and have just slid from 56 to 55. I do feel slightly judged by my scales and would love to be younger than my chronological age - god knows what you have to do to get there though, they do seem quite hard to please 🤨

Interesting about weight loss affecting thyroid function, makes sense. I’ll see if I can find any info about that.

Welcome to the chat @flipflopson5thavenue
I've lotst 34kg without calorie counting. But things have slowed down, and I need to start to count calories for a bit to get things started again. @InfoSecInTheCity published some instructions upthread for using ChapGPT to do specific meal plans so I'm going to try that for a while and see it if bumps things along.

great NVS @MooBaggage - have a lovely holiday.

My dressing changed dramatically a few years ago now when I discovered chamois cream. No more dreaded thigh chaffing and I can wear dresses/skirts all I want and walk as far as I want.

A tube of this will last me most of a summer: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000HZGTUS?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder_k0_1_7&amp=&crid=36WXKNEERXDVF&sprefix=chamois&th=1

Woo go you! Enjoy going away

Big news! Premier inn hotel towel goes all the way around me! (It is a premier plus room, not sure if they give you bigger towels!)

I’m another calorie counter here.

I’m pretty good at guestimating when I want to but log it for my own accountability. I haven’t reached the point where I can be ‘trusted’ to self manager and I don’t think I ever will be.

I’m also a daily weigher! I do take breaks from it though, but overall its helped me understand fluctations like dehydration, hormones and breaks in routine!

Hello, can I join? I started MJ in May.

SW: 17 stone 2 / 240lbs
CW: 16 stone 1 / 225lbs
GW: 10 stone / 140lbs

I got off to a great start with no side effects and joined a gym that I was really enjoying going to for the classes, but at my second class I dislocated my knee/knee cap and I've been working towards having a fully-functioning leg since then.

Before MJ, I was drinking 100 units of alcohol a week and at around 7500 calories a week, went from the body I recognised - size 10/12 - to a size 18/20 over a few years. I'm now drinking a couple of bottles of wine a week which isn't ideal but it's a world away from the life I had before. I'm not drinking my feelings anymore, that's for sure.

Here's to being able to go on long walks, go swimming and keep losing.

I just need a quick frustrated grumble...

Saw the GP today about post menopausal bleeding - she thinks it's because of the MJ and we have a plan to increase my progesterone after having a scan - all good.

I asked her whether my area is ever planning to offer MJ on the NHS - she said yes, from the end of June!

Am gutted though - you need 3 x comorbidities, which I have (she checked and confirmed), but need a BMI of 40+ 🙄. My BMI was 43 when I started, but is now 35.4 - which is fantastic, but means I'm not eligible...

Am so gutted... she said next year they'll offer it to people with 35+ BMI - by which point mine should be nearer to 25.

I know it's stupid to think about it, but if I'd have waited 6 months, I'd have it prescribed and not be paying £150 a month, which is a lot for me to find. Aaaarrgghhh.... 🙄

But I know it's better to have got rid of the weight and every week and month counts... Sigh.

They aren’t required to do it but if your GP seemed generally supportive of your MJ use then they may consider and approve this.

It is possible to transition from private prescriptions to NHS prescriptions for any treatment, there is a process called an FP10 form which you need to fill out and then they would approve. I would ask on the basis that at the time you were initially prescribed you met the NHS criteria of BMI 40, you are requesting that the NhS continue your existing treatment plan based on the diagnosis and criteria at your time of being issued the first prescription.

its worth a try.

@MooBaggage I think there will be a lot of us in that position when/if Mounjaro is made more available on the NHS for weight loss alone. But, I definitely would not have wanted to wait and stay at BMI 50 for this past year, so I feel like I've been really fortunate to be able to get ahead of the game.

I actually don't know when I would have qualified, because my BMI was 50 but I only had 1 official weight related condition (high BP) so I think I would have had to wait for the 3rd or even 4th tranch. I suspect I had sleep apnoae too but that was never diagnosed.

@MooBaggage If someone had said at the start of your MJ journey, " You could pay £[whatever you have spent] to be in the mid 30s by now, or you can hang on with your current risk profile on the off-chance it might become available on the NHS - what do you reckon?" which exit would you be heading for? I'm pretty sure I'd be rushing to the tills!

And hello everyone! Long silence for various reasons but it's so encouraging read others' stories.

10 days ago I finally had the hernia repair and abdominal reconstruction that I started losing weight for (gone from BMI 37 to 28, which is 4 stone gone.

Recovery is slow and I still feel pretty grim, but it's starting to improve. Fingers crossed!

@MooBaggageGutting! But you made the best decision you could at the time, so no regrets. And it really is the sooner the better - every day that you’re not at 40+ BMI is a win. Plus I bet there will be shortages of 2.5mg, you know what the NHS is like and demand will be through the roof. My DSis and DH have both been told they might be able to get it on the NHS soon.

Great NSV @taylorswift1989💪

Welcome @DidILeaveTheGasOnand ouch at the knee, that sounds so painful, hope it gets better soon. Sounds like you are still making great progress, especially with the drinking.

Thanks everyone - I'm getting over it already 😬. It's true I would have given everything to be where I am right now - am so pleased with how it's going. And I keep reminding myself that I was spending at least as much as the MJ on alcohol and food, so I'm no worse off financially than I was. 💪

Good idea to ask though @InfoSecInTheCity I'll wait a bit and maybe try over the summer sometime.