Does everyone change their diet with MJ?

[BigFreeze]

Curious if I’m the only one who doesn’t. I eat like I have done all my life but just in a lot smaller quantities! My reasoning is because I think this will be more sustainable long-term. We’ve always got a weekly takeaway and I still do that, but I probably have a quarter of what I would usually eat. I still go to Starbucks. I still order dessert at restaurants but share or get a mini version. I’m losing weight consistently. However, I see people on here changing their diets and focusing on protein etc. Should I change how I eat or is this okay?

I had a healthy diet before as well, so I haven't changed it drastically. Still homecooked, mostly veggies.
What I have changed -

Portion sizes. No I really don't need to eat as much as my 6'4'' husband or growing teenagers.
Protein - as other people have said, if we eat less, it can be a challenge to get enough protein, and I really didn't want to lose my muscles. Happy to report that I haven't, muscle mass has gone up from 'average' to 'very high'.
Almost no alcohol.
Almost no sweets, chocolate, pastries etc. But differing from OP, I just don't fancy them any more.

This is such an interesting question and I’m enjoying reading everyone’s answers - my answer is not really.

2.5 yrs ago I did Fast800 and overhauled my diet fairly seriously at that point. Since then I’ve tried to follow a lowish carb Mediterranean diet although I do eat pasta, rice and potatoes but would aim for only once a day. I struggle to hit protein goals as I’m veggie and don’t really like all the artificially sweetened protein products but I did try to prioritise protein.

So since being on MJ I’m eating a lot of the same core meals as before - evening meals haven’t changed but I have a smaller portion of the carb. Breakfast has been Greek yogurt, berries and muesli - I have a smaller amount of muesli now. Lunch is protein and salad.

What I no longer do (and what made me fat) is eat half a (large) bar of chocolate on the sofa each night. Binge on crisps when my family are sleeping. Eat snacks in my office all day because I’m bored / stressed. ‘Forget’ to make lunch so I have to get a meal deal at work….

we have always had pizza on a Friday night. Switched from frozen to homemade a couple of years ago. Since staring WLI I still have this but I eat half - I think in maintenance I’ll go back to eating the whole pizza! I also have a bottle of beer two or three times a week and a small crunchie or finger of fudge 2/3 evenings a week.

For me overeating has never been about hunger. It’s an emotional issue and a way of comforting myself. My maintenance plan is to stay on small dose of MJ for a long time - maybe up to a year (I’m still losing well and haven’t made it to 5mg yet so think I’ll get away with a small dose). During that time I’ll keep food diaries to work out how much I can eat to maintain. I also plan to have some therapy and read the Alan Carr books about emotional eating. Then, I will cautiously try coming off WLI while continuing my food diary and daily weighing.

For me - I don’t really think my diet was the primary problem because I didn’t eat because of hunger but I suppose I do agree that if you haven’t changed anything during your journey why would you expect your weight not to go back up at the end of it?

I don’t know why mumsnet took the laughing reaction away! I actually got rid of most of my clothes earlier in the year and bought bigger sizes… then I started MJ and now they’re getting too big! Not great for the wallet but good for my confidence. I’m thinking new summer clothes are in order soon :)

Haha I like your username. How do you check your muscle mass? I wish I didn’t fancy them! I do make good choices most of the time and have something like raspberries or cherries if I want something sweet. But sometimes the cravings are so strong especially with pms. Are you vegetarian? I’m pescatarian so I’m mindful about protein

I have my knees out today @BigFreeze and they've barely seen sunlight in the last decade. They look damn good though I say so myself!
Smart scales will calculate your muscle mass. They're not 100% accurate but within about 5% tolerance. I have Renpho ones and they have a lot of information about my health. No charge for their app that tracks your progress either. I hate being locked into subscriptions

Me360 will do body scans that are useful for tracking non scale victories too!

I used to be HeavyHeidi but people on my Mounjaro thread insisted I change my name :D

I don't eat meat indeed, so it can be challenge to get enough protein. I don't like the taste of regular protein powders, but the clear ones are quite pleasant. Very sweet though, so I dilute them in loads more water than in original isntuctions.
For checking, body composition scales. I have a version with the handheld probe.
I do agree that if you really crave something, it's better to have a little than resisting, resisting and finally giving up and eating the whole fridge.

U Dd2 had changed everything about her diet . Protein , veg, water , hardly any processed food

Your diet doesn’t sound too dissimilar to mine, except I don’t drink as I just don’t like it.

I would also “forget” to make lunch and have a jacket potato in my work canteen sometimes 😆

I think I’m the same as you re the emotional eating. It’s absolutely something I need to address and after reading through this thread it’s given me food for thought! The more I think about it, the more I feel that I probably need this medication long-term

Oooh this is great I’m gonna look into it thanks!

I also would have the jacket potato - sometimes I would even just not eat my homemade lunch to have one - how awful!! The thing is we have time to make these changes - you don’t have to do everything at once. I think I will spend as long in medicated maintenance as I have losing weight because in many ways losing the weight is the easy part - it’s keeping it off that’s so hard and I’m not convinced an inflexible and rigid lifestyle is the way to do it.

I agree with you there. My attitude towards diets is all or nothing which just ends in more weight gain, as most people on MJ will relate to! I’ve been on this for 3 months now and it’s honestly changed my life and I never, ever want to go back to my starting weight. My dream is to be 10 stone and actually stay there for the rest of my life. I’m over being fat and pretending to be happy! You are so right about having time, I’m still early days and as I have another 6 stone to lose, I will be on this for at least another year so lots of time to make changes

Can you recommend a vegan protein powder? I have a whey protein allergy

ah sorry the one I use is whey - but I see they have a vegan version too -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Protein-Works-Vegan-Dairy-Vanilla/dp/B01N2OK2UH/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2HQYI4O0V5EMU&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.M9TMRR0Qjpu1BZlYf4Rn9IG6I6mOlPMLoVA6q2FD6KlPjXhCLcXzpL0ZMhX9drknDTYD41eBesUvpZ2W6ch4LeHh2TElYnSq_lc7Mavf4dMUG0_7LQlxCDO4D5HBWRFLdOsXyK7kTGZCKw6xxfWaNufqWL-TCp7kd3-Ws41PN5EeY1TxUXOOdsjjmM48dDv-pXVwkJ5wjJQ41f8t-aF2knXqaIAeAaVn4VtMPMLoJXyxUKrl-RoGHDIY8gEYdNB7SrlOqEaN18xqBBRS2x7GbQks5S9rrWoWNwCT2MlqdDY.GC-wSlXewkiRnGeFwk-uwndVXGUt7Kgf-w6-evpxDBQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=proteinworks%2Bvegan&qid=1750617283&sprefix=proteinworks%2Bvegan%2Caps%2C253&sr=8-3&th=1

This is itself very all or nothing thinking.

Third option: check how much protein you're getting at the moment and increase it to a reasonable level to support your muscle mass, metabolism and longterm WL. Muscle mass will decrease while dieting unless you eat more protein and do some strength training.

Plus keep an eye on the amount of empty calories you have. Don't buy/eat them automatically, check if you really want them.

Amazing thank you

I average 80g per day so will try and add some protein powder. I do 30 mins of yoga each day whilst my 6 month old sleeps

Yes you’re right I’m quite a black and white thinker!

My main cook at home meals haven’t changed much just smaller portions.
What it has stopped is the binging. I used to binge on takeaways / a lot of cheap snacky stuff before & that has completely stopped.

If you're already on 80g per day without supplementing that's pretty good, OP. Just up a bit from there, and you may find you don't still want empty calorie type food as much.

Kind of. Before I got in bad habits I rarely ate takeaways, ate less sugar, and always loved to eat a lot of vegetables, so rather than changing my diet per se, I've reverted to what I actually like to eat, without those disruptive sugar cravings derailing me. I've realised how fucked up food messaging is especially towards women, where we're expected to eat like birds but are endlessly criticised or mocked if we do. I remember having a conversation about our 'death row' meals relatively recently and I was very much mocked for my instinctive choices, which was food I actually really love, and not 10,000 calories worth of stuff I like but don't love. I used to get slagged off my choices from takeaways or eating out. I'm basically having to constantly remind myself and relearn that it's ok to like the food I like on several levels. So that has come as a bit of a surprise.

But also I've changed when I eat. I didn't used to eat in the morning, then bought into the idea of 3 meals a day etc, which didn't suit me and I feel contributed to me being out of touch with my body. I'm definitely a 2 meals person.

It sounds like you know your body well and good for you for listening to it. I get your point about set meal times too. When I was younger I genuinely thought that I needed to eat an evening meal, even if I wasn’t hungry, because that’s what was drilled into me growing up. Same with breakfast, I’m someone who really struggles to eat breakfast and I’d rather have a brunch style meal at 11 or 12.

I agree with you about food messaging, damned if we do, damned if we don’t. I’ve noticed recently that some people in my life are making a point of trying to “feed” me because I’ve lost weight. I’m 16 stone, I need to lose weight. The same people would make rude comments about my weight when I was heavier

Sounds like you’re both losing weight and feeling happy, which is about as good as it gets!

I’ve shifted my diet quite a lot. Very little bread /pasta/carbs now. More conscious of protein intake for both satiety and muscle maintenance. Trying for lots of variety in plants every week.

But I have a bit of cake at a party or a dessert at a restaurant - it’s more that my standard is higher so only if it’s really excellent. One of the magic qualities of the medicine is that I find it quite easy to say nah to ordinary cake. I also genuinely want to order the sorbet sometimes, which I’d never have done before.

I had an ice cream the other day when I was out and about because there was a place with homemade posh stuff, so I had one scoop and it was great, but I didn’t feel like I needed more than that. In fact that treat feels more significant to me and I remember it more than I would have done before.

I’m down 27%, so I feel this approach works for me. Not absolutist about anything, but overall focusing on really good nutrition without banning or getting too neurotic about anything.