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!

@HereIGoOnceMore I’m afraid I do 5 days on and 2 days off ( the days I have a couple of glasses of wine at weekends)

I'm 40 and been on MJ since January - have gone from 25 stone to 19 stone and very happy with this so far. Mostly live on 1400 calories or thereabouts a day and never flreally feel hungry. But it does scare me thinking of my previous eating habits: buying and picking slices off a massive wedge of brie over an evening... Whole sharer bags of crisps and two bottles of wine in a Friday....
I live quite a routine and solitary life with dh though - when I have to go out, as I do tomorrow to a fucking all you can eat shit restaurant - it does throw me.

Not on MJ but after lockdown I did the fast 800. If you think that 1600 is restrictive, try 800!! On the plus side, when I increased my calories after this, even 1200 calories felt like loads. It was a whole extra meal a day. You’ve just used to having too much for too long.

i think you could have a bit more empathy.

and 1200 calories isn’t loads.

Indeed I have, no arguments there.

And thanks to MJ, we no longer need to do silly stuff like 'Fast 800' to lose weight.

I didn’t say that 1200 was loads, I said it felt like loads in comparison to 800. The only reason that 1600 feels low is because people have got used to massively overeating. It’s a habit. Once you break the habit, your body gets used to less and it becomes a lot easier.

I don’t know whether or not this will happen under MJ though as the reduction in calories has been artificially disconnected from the desire to eat by the appetite suppressant.

Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it, it worked really well. Personally I think it’s preferable to pumping your body with drugs for life. Fasting resets your appetite. I’m not sure that MJ will if people stop taking it.

I have tried it. I tried everything.

I think it's part metabolism and part whether you have the satiety thing. I believe that some people are missing that, II've observed how some overweight people I know can eat and eat and not appear to feel sick, bloated or even slightly uncomfortable. I hate feeling like that so have always naturally stopped when I feel full. Served me well until menopause hit.

My metabolism has really slowed down and now if I pay attention to how full I feel, raher than calorie count, I've noticed that I feel full on really quite small amounts of food. But it's been an adjustment. Years of eating particular amounts mean that I've had to make a conscious effort to reduce portion sizes or I end up either throwing some food out as I can't finish it, or if I feel guilty throwing it out then I end up feeling overly full if I make myself finish it.

So yes, I can go to bed at the end of the night feeling satisfied and realise I've actually had quite a small amount of food through the day. I'm 52. Past the middle of the "perfect" BMI although I'm small-framed so would probably be more "me" towards the bottom of it.

You’re coming across as quite judgemental- it’s not helpful. It’s really clear if you read posts on this board that a lot of people haven’t been ‘massively overeating’ but have been unable to lose weight even at 1200 calories.
Also think about the language you use - ‘massive’ and ‘eating too much for too long’ - it’s negative and doesn’t add anything to help people.

I know what you mean OP. Prior to MJ, I was mindlessly eating - eating because it was ‘time to eat’ or because I was in front of the TV or whatever. I think MJ takes away the desire or need for that and you then discover you need way less than you thought.

I know what you mean too, OP. I’ve never been on WLI but I developed serious insulin resistance after my second pregnancy and have been taking metformin. It seems to allow me to eat pretty normally without packing on weight. However, I recently spent 3 weeks off Metformin as I contracted both RSV and Influenza A, followed by a secondary bacterial infection needing antibiotics etc. It was the sickest I’ve ever been. During that time, my diet consisted of an orange or strawberries for breakfast, an orange or strawberries for lunch, and then maybe 2 to 4 mouthfuls of dinner, depending on how bad I felt. When I was on antibiotics, I also had an occasional small yoghurt. I thought my weight would plummet, even off the Metformin. Nope, I actually gained a small amount of weight over the 3 weeks. It kind of proved to me that without Metformin, I could almost exist on air from a weight perspective, nutritionally it would be a problem!

Can I make a plea to those posters who are on very low calorie intakes post-menopause to discuss their bone health with their GP, supplement with calcium and vitamin D, and do regular weight-bearing exercise. Osteoporosis is awful and never seems to be discussed in the context of severely restricting calorie intake.

I once worked in an office with a group of very slim women. I lost weight because I was influenced by how they ate. There was no office culture of bringing in cakes, they weren’t haven’t biscuits with tea. They didn’t prioritise food and weren’t obsessed with unhealthy snacks.

This is my biggest fear, my granny was crippled by osteoporosis and my mum broke her hip twice and never recovered.
I have osteopenia (probably from a combination of genetics, restrictive diets through my teens to 30s and my hypothyroidism) and I take calcium and vitamin D, do loads of weight bearing exercise and hope for the best. Next DEXA scan not due for a year. I'm only 44!
I always felt it was unfair how little I could eat and ai just wasn't willing to eat that little. I definitely lost the weight on mj by eating 1000 - 1200 calories per day. I definitely couldn't have kept that up for 6 months without mj (I'd tried). FAST800 is great but it's not sustainable so what you end up with is severe yo-yo behaviour (welcome to my 20s and 30s).
I've heard somewhere that they might restrict mj to those above BMI 25 I really hope not as I'm sure I have insulin resistance like another poster and I think I could eat the same food as I am now but without the mj I will gain. I am exploring an ADHD diagnosis and will be tempted to take medication if I am diagnosed, the medication will make restricting food at lunchtime possible but often this will backlash in the evening so may not be helpful overall (but the medication might stop the dopamine chasing, which mj has definitely stopped, hence I'd like to stay on it forever, I definitely need to be on something!!)

1600 cals is too much for me. I barely can manage around 1200. Some days I suspect I eat less than that.

I’ve always said this is why so many people struggle to lose weight, because they have no idea how little we actually need to fuel our bodies for what we do.
People will think they have cut their portion sizes right down, but it’s generally always still way over what it should be.
The recommended daily calories for a woman is really barely anything for the ‘everyday’ person (obviously not the athletes)

I’ve joined a calorie counting page on Facebook and they have calculated to lose weight I need 2100 cals. I’m struggling on 1600 and not seeing much change (not always successful so really need to crack down and get on with it) I’m sure at 2100 I will put on weight although they insist I won’t. I’m 5’3 and 14 stone. This is where it all gets confusing with everyone saying different things. I think I just need to eat less and exercise more and keep it simple but there’s so many opinions when you get started that it gets overwhelming

I wouldn’t be trusting advice from people on a Facebook page. Use an actually calorie tracker. Plenty of them around

They are supposed to be qualified nutritionists etc and lots of people are losing weight on the higher calories and they claim it might be slower but safer and more likely
to keep it off but I just can’t see how.

I wish I could eat 1600 calories and lose weight! That's about 600 calories too much a day for me. MJ has killed my appetite completely so I'm struggling to eat at all. Thank god for protein shakes...

I just had a look at the BBC food calorie calculator and put in my height and age at different weights. To stay the same I’d need 2400 calories at 16 stones, 2100 at 11.5 stones and 1700 at 10 stone. Quite interesting! I’m not counting calories at all, just eating healthy.

I'm 40. Today I've eaten a small slice of pork and some lettuce. Yesterday I had a yoghurt. I mean, it's working for me in terms of weight loss but I'm not sure it's healthy!

It’s how you cope at the other end that would worry me, when you’ve lost weight by fundamentally under eating - when you come off it.

Have you been eating so little on MJ for a while? (sorry, I’m just intrigued, not being judgemental. It’s incredible how we all react differently to it. I seem to be able to eat huge amounts, but it helps me resist bad foods somehow).

Most people I know who are taking it have no intention of coming off it. Why would they stop taking a medication that has rectified a serious health problem?

I am planning to take a maintenance dose so I can stay at a healthy weight. I am six pounds away from my goal.