we really don't need a lot of food....

[JustPinkFinch]

Are any other females 40+ quite surprised - after taking MJ or similar - at how little they actually need to eat in order to lose weight?

I am eating a healthy lunch, healthy dinner and a snack (either fruit or nuts). On this I am losing 1-2lbs a week.

It feels restrictive vs what I am used to and there is no way I could have done this without MJ.

Once I reach my target, I can increase intake a bit in order to maintain. That I can probably do without MJ, but if not I will stay on the drug long term.

I am very grateful this drug is available, but at the same time a little sad at how little food I actually need.

I am active too. I do not lead a sedentary life.

All my thin friends eat like birds, so I shouldn't be surprised. But I am!

Honestly? As a woman over 40, no. Are you very short? I'm particularly tall for a woman but my basal metabolic rate is over 1600kcal.

Strength training, and the muscle it builds, is helpful to boost metabolism. Please don't eat like a bird long-term. Those are the women at greatest risk of osteoporosis.

Why have you bolded woman? Is female not a term we use anymore or something?

Yes I am short. 1600kcal feels restrictive to me.

I have been a regular weightlifter (snatch, clean & jerk) since I was in my 20s. I am very strong.

1600 calories is not restrictive at all?

My point is, it feels it to me. I was asking if anyone else on the jabs feels the same.

Not at all. What do you find restricting about 1600 calories on a WL journey?

'Female' is an adjective and outside of certain scientific contexts it's ungrammatical to use it as a noun. The same goes for 'male'. The additional problem now is that 'female' as a noun is used by men's rights activists and incels as a way of dehumanising women. The connotations are really unpleasant. Please reconsider your use of it (and please don't accuse me of policing language - you asked).

1600kcal is my basal metabolic rate, ie what I burn if I literally don't get out of bed. My TDEE is typically 2200-2800 depending on my activity levels. If you're a weightlifter with a lot of muscle mass then you might want to recalculate your TDEE. It's important not to eat too little.

Let's not get too hung up on the exact calorie amounts and go back to the original spirit of my thread.

Is anyone else, on WLIs with many years of overeating behind them, surprised at how little they need to eat in order to lose weight?

We can assume I am eating the right amount (for weightloss) to be losing 1-2lbs a week.

I know what you mean op, in comparison to what I used to eat it’s a stark contrast! I seem to need to eat very little to maintain my weight around the healthy bmi mark.
I exercise, weight train, swim, reformer Pilates and spin. I don’t actually eat very little but compared to my diet pre mounjaro it seems it.
i eat lunch around 1pm - salad with some chicken, or avocado on a bagel, or eggs, and then a regular dinner with just one type of carb (usually at least 2 types on offer!!) but a smaller portion than before. I don’t snack or drink alcohol. And I’ve been pretty consistently maintaining for the last few months having lost what I feel is the right amount of weight for me. It’s around 1500-1600 calories. I could reduce the calories but I have no desire to. I don’t feel like I need to lose any more weight, just maintain where I am now. but it’s not lots of food, no!

Well no, because eating 1600 calories to lose worth isn’t eating so little

Is it true that to lose one lb in weight, you have to eat 3600 calories less? So if you’re losing 1/2 lb per week, you’re eating 7200 less ( assuming same activity levels)

So pre diet, you were eating 2600 calories per day ( I think the average is 2000)

Oh yes, definitely I was eating way too much. Even when I thought I was being 'good' I now realise I wasn't! 😬

An eye opening journey for sure.

It definitely is a bit of a reality check, I know what you mean.

I'm not surprised as I know from countless attempts to lose weight, successful short term but longer-term unsuccessful, that I needed to eat a lot less than I was. I knew it, but always found it hard to implement and stick to.

I’m not on the injections but I’m trying to only eat 1600 calories and I’m finding it tough too. I’m short too (5ft 3). I guess our bodies have got used to eating more (we wouldn’t have become overweight otherwise) and I’m thinking it takes time to adjust. It’s also the mental stuff of thinking you ‘can’t’ have something as not enough calories left and constantly planning and thinking about calories

To go back to OP's original question, I think it depends how you gained your weight in the first place. If you were someone who ate well but just too much then I imagine it could feel more restrictive. You only have to go over your TDEE by about 300 kcal every day to gain two stone in a year. Conversely, if you are someone like me who drank a lot of their calories through alcohol and then got the rest through mindless late-night snacking then the difference is much less stark when the MJ helps you to stop drinking and go to bed earlier!

I agree having fought my weight all of my life. But it’s not just the amount of calories it’s the content within them that matters. Far more than I ever thought and especially now that I’m post menopausal. I track my macros but prioritise the protein. Helps to fill me so i don’t look for snacks etc.

2lbs a week is a pretty quick reduction, though. I lost 1lb a month just by exercising - no reduction to my eating habits, which were more like 2,000+ cals per day. You could increase calorie intake and lose more slowly if that feels more natural to you.

I’m 5 9’ in my 50’s and my bmr is 1400. Not a lot of wiggle room

I'd say I was just an all-round over eater. Too much at each meal. I am from a 'feeder-finish your plate' parent and my sport does not help. I've not competed for many years, but I used to train 4x a week entirely with men who would drink litres of full fat milk during a session, grab a burger for lunch half way through training (Sainsbury's was renamed Gainsbury's 😁) and so on. It didn't affect me too badly under 35, but once I hit peri years of over-fuelling has caught up with me. I am wondering if 6 months on MJ will be enough to reprogram these bad habits. I will get to my target weight in that time and am hopeful, now I have had this wake-up call, that I will be successful.

I agree Op, I’ve said the very same thing. I am maintaining now on mounjaro.
I’ve lost a lot of weight and this is the first time I’ve been a healthy bmi, and I am suprised how little food I need even at maintenance.
And I am tall and do lots of weightlifting and cardio.

Yeah I know what you mean. I do remember watching a slender (fit, very tall) friend eat aged around 30. I was ploughing my way happily through a big meaty dinner with lots of potatoes (and wondering why nothing fitted) while she ate a small meal of some protein and salad. It was the first time I’d really ‘seen’ smaller portions in the same way.

Now at 56 it’s not that I didn’t know that eating less would mean weight loss, I knew it then too. But it’s sometimes still a surprise what that actually looks like. I don’t eat breakfast any more really. Egg salad or similar for lunch. Small bowl of dinner.

It is depressingly easy to over eat.

It's loads of wiggle room unless you are bed-bound. Have you muddled BMR (basal metabolic rate, what you burn to stay alive even if you are in bed all day) and TDEE (total daily energy expenditure, ie BMR + energy used in moving around and exercise)?

You sure about that? It's all relative.

I am very active so that does help