Mounjaro/Wegovy with > 5 stone/30kg to lose - thread 9!

[MooBaggage]

New thread for anyone with more than 5 stone/30kg to lose. All welcome, whichever part of the journey you're on.

We have kiwis, hammocks, weight loss charts, an unhealthy obsession with Vinted and enough water to sink several ships 😊

No discount codes please - there's a separate thread for those.

@TourangaLeila

a few ideas that would give some variety without making your life any harder.

Breakfast: weetabix and milk or Greek yoghurt and honey

• Different flavours for your Greek yoghurt - crushed pecans and maple syrup, strawberries and peanuts, stewed apple and cinnamon, pomegranate and honey

Dinner: Vegetable curry, Turkey chilli, chicken biryani, chicken "kebab" and salad, spaghetti bolognaise, chicken and rice and broccoli

• hold back some of the bolognaise and put yours on top of portobello mushrooms or inside bell peppers brushed with garlic oil and well seasoned.
• Roast your broccoli with some paprika and Chilli flakes and serve that with the chicken.

@lifetheuniverseandeverything42 it's so tricky isn't it.

My nephew started to pile on weight when he was about 10. He has Autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia and a rare genetic duplication. DN seems to have an uncontrollable urge to eat and I think that eating is part of his sensory seeking behaviours. I come from a family of big eaters but have never encountered anyone like him. He will literally eat frozen chicken nuggets direct from the freezer or a whole green pepper like it is an apple. My sister's approach was not to talk about food and just tried slightly reducing portion sizes and having more healthy snacks in. But the main thing that made a difference was that she uses his DLA to pay for personal training sessions three times a week. He also plays rugby. He is 15 now and over six foot (growing definitely helped). I doubt he will ever be slim but he is very fit and strong and I think he takes pride in this.

It's such a balancing act isn't it. My sister and I were both bullied as kids for being fat so really didn't want it for him. But then you don't want to give them a complex re food.

When I was 10 the school nurse told me that I was a stone overweight. My Dad was with me and told me that I was perfect to him. I don't think my parents did anything about it. Looking back I think that they could possibly have encouraged me to exercise more, especially when I moved to secondary. At primary school I was always pretty active - out on my bike or pretending that I was riding a horse around a showjumping course!

@TourangaLeila I understand the boredom but had, what Oprah would call, an Aha moment a while back. I was reading a Marian Keyes book which had a character in it who was bulimic and hiding it from her family. Towards the end of the book she is in treatment and tells somebody "I have learned that food is not here to entertain me" and that statement really hit me. I don't want to lose all my joy in food but try now to focus on fuel and healthiness rather than the excitement I used to look for. I find it easier if my food is slightly boring but it is a hard balance though.
My breakfast is usually greek yoghurt with 1/4scoop vanilla protein and berries, seeds, granola, etc or a protein shake
Lunch is usually chicken, tuna or prawns with salad, or half a tin of beans on 1 slice toast or a protein bar/shake if dashing
Tea is a cooked meal as the fancy takes me
I do need to start to plan and prep more though too

@InfoSecInTheCity I've tried to use your spreadsheet but couldn't and have just realised it is in view only mode. It is telling me to ask your permission for edit access. Does that mean anything to you as I am computer-illiterate?
Also is Chat GPT an app I have to download? I think AI is hiding from me as I can't find it on my laptop

@QueenOfHiraethyou need to save a copy to your own computer then you’ll be able to edit that. If you click on ‘file’ on the top navigation bar you should see an option for ‘make a copy’ and it will ask you what you want to call it and where you want to save it.

Chat GPT is an app, I use it on my iPad (or phone, or Mac, or laptop…. I might own too many devices!) or a website, if you go to https://chatgpt.com/ in the middle of the screen you’ll see a box saying ‘ask me a question’ just type your request in there and hit enter then wait a couple of seconds and the magic happens.

@QueenOfHiraeth i understand what your saying, but I'm already happy with repetition and I know food is not entertainment. I don't think it's that wrong to want to change up my meals after 8 months.

I ordered some licorice teabags this week and am just about to have my first cup..!

This is an exciting moment, as I used to love licorice, but it usually has wheat in, so I've not been able to have it for years due to being Coeliac.

I had no idea they did teabags..! Am going in - wish me luck.... 😀

That’s reminded me of seaside holidays when I was a kid. The stick of rock shops always had the licorice twigs on the counter. The novelty of buying a twig and walking round chewing it used to entertain us for ages!

TW- difficult themes and mention of 'not living'

I know exactly why I am the way I am. I went to the kind of secondary school where you were a nobody unless you were good at sport and to a lesser degree drama. I'm absolutely shocking at sport and crap at drama. Coupled with the fact that I had a regional accent strongly associated with limited intelligence I was bullied from the very first to my very last day. The staff didn't give a shit and in some instances were complicit. Home life wasn't much fun either but I'm not OK about talking about that.

So food was my solace. When you're going through literal hell in more than one direction yeah, that bar of dairy milk IS going to taste good and make you feel good.

I've been obese for most of my adult life. And would have probably carried on getting bigger and bigger unless something else happened. Which it did last year big time. I was critically ill with sepsis, several A&E appearances and eventually emergency surgery. I had a BMI of 45 last year. The consultant at the time made it clear that if the same thing happened again I wouldn't be so lucky. And I'd rather be here to see my kids celebrate their 18th birthdays.

I've now got a BMI of 34 and have lost 32.5kg in just over 9 months. I'd have never envisaged this happening when I first started. Mainly because I am a wheelchair (powered) user due to spinal issues and autoimmune disease that's wrecking my nervous system. I'm just about mobile indoors for a few steps, outdoors is an absolute hell no. Considering I do next to no conventional exercise I'm surprised I have even lost that much.

It's not all doom and gloom though. If anything life is pretty good at the moment. I'm self-employed and my client base are entirely OK about the fact that some days they get me on a call led down because my mind says go but my body says no. I write flexibility into my contracts as well. After a period of turbulence with my youngest (12 and he's autistic with learning disability, PDA, ADHD and complex SEMH needs) he's in a stable and settled school placement for the first time ever. And I have the opportunity to do something positive for myself, something I could have very thought would happen.

Onwards and downwards!

@alltablenochairs you are amazing 💪💪💪💜

Meanwhile, it seems licorice teabags are EFFING HORRIBLE.....

And I bought a bulk load, so if anyone would like me to post them a box, message me with your address - I have about 4 more boxes 🙄

If not, they'll be going to the Tesco food drop off!

@InfoSecInTheCity Thank you! I am old enough to have not grown up with computers so have never found them easy. When I started work everything was handwritten and, even later when they computers came in, we were very much just using set programs or inputting clinical info so I used DS1 as my tech support but now he is grown up with his own family I am fairly clueless

It's interesting reading all your musings about weight, childhood, body image, etc.

My story is that I was a typical child of the 1960s, parents had gone through wartime, rationing, etc in their youth so food was always a treat and it was the era when sweets were available, convenience food arrived and both existed alongside every home still having a proper chip pan in regular use and homemade cakes.

I was always fatter than my siblings and, although my parents were good and loving, it was an unspoken problem, especially for my mother. I do think many of my issues come from her as it has become more obvious as she has got old that her attitudes to body size are very negative and critical.
As a teenager there was a very dysfunctional attitude to food and dieting among my schoolfriends so I fell into the diet and regain cycle until I had my babies when it spiralled to a diet and regain, regain and regain more cycle.

I think I became very good at blocking out anything related to how big I was and how much I was eating or drinking (reading that article from @RobinEllacotStrike is a bit of an eye-opener as I have 5 of the 6 signs, the only one I don't have is withdrawal headaches, I would just be so hungry it hurt). I have spent years with no awareness of how I really looked or felt and also think that most people I know didn't realise how big or heavy I was as I always dressed well to hide it.
Just as I have always blocked out how big I was I think i have blocked out my body changing as I have lost weight. When people say "You must feel amazing" I say honestly that I don't feel different, I just feel like the same old me, but now at BMI just over 27 I suddenly feel "thinner" and I don't even know what my goal should be which is quite disconcerting. I think I need to do some work to actually see myself but where to start...

Maybe we could start a delivery service for all our disgusting purchases. I have collagen,” bounty”(hah!) high protein bars and some cherry teabags that
taste like fermented cough medicine. Delivernooo!

I'm not suggesting for one minute that you are wrong, just offering another thought which was useful to me.
My life has been very food focussed for many years which is why I think that idea struck me so hard but we are all different.

I have found the Diet Doctor website helpful for lower carb ideas and meal plans

Aww what a shame!

I know!! It made me feel instantly nauseous...! So weird - I got them on someone's recommendation and have had them for a few days, kind of keeping them for a quiet evening as something to look forward to! 🙄

I have half a selection box of teas that a lovely customer at my cafe gave me to use at the cafe. I probably won’t use them. I already have a good range of fruit teas. If you’d like them I’d happily post them. They’re individually wrapped sachets. Probably about 20 teabags of various flavours. PM me if you would like them. (bit of karma for you after your bad luck and you offering them to us!)

Trade you for some gluten free chickpea orzo that cooked down into a mush like consistency. It was so bad even the dog didn't want to know and he will eat anything

Just reading the word licorice turns my stomach! I used to share an office with someone whose diet seemed to consist solely of peppermint tea and Quavers - the combined smell was sonething else and I still recall ot vividly 25 years later! I do need to branch out and try different drinks. My Mum swears by a ginger cordial which she drinks hot.

I need to jab now - have put if off all evening because last week I had bad nausea and vomiting. I have a 7.5 pen but I think that I might do 45-50 clicks.

I’ve had zero success with the alternative pastas/rices.i strongly caution that no one should ever try those ‘zero noodles’ I knew it was too good to be true, they’re basically no calories but they are konjac root in noodle form. The most unpleasant texture imaginable and stink like gone off fish. I just don’t bother any ore and either have a very small portion of normal pasta/rice or have a complete alternative like green beans and don’t try to pretend it’s something it isn’t.

Loving our terrible swap shop trades 😁

I don't drink tea at all, so will decline the fruit tea - but thank you! I should have known better but got caught up with the idea of tasting licorice again, but minus the calories!

Actually, I do really like green tea when I'm at Chinese restaurants - must get some in, as that might be quite refreshing.

Gluten free anything is a total pain - turns out gluten is a wonderful thing and food is rubbish without it 🙄😬

4lbs off for me this morning, onto week 2

Hurrah! Great start @Lozzie118 😊 Onwards and downwards - hope you've found week 1 OK💪

Found it not too bad, jabbed last night and feeling that I don't want to eat just yet. Taking each day as it comes. How are you getting on? Very new to all of this sorry

It's such a strange feeling, not wanting to eat that is

Oh yes - lots of us know that feeling well! A lifetime of food noise has disappeared for me - I'm 6 months in now, so it's becoming the new normal, but it's really really weird at first... Literally forgetting to eat!

Make sure you're getting enough calories in - it can be difficult sometimes if you've got high suppression. Prioritise protein - I use protein shakes if I'm really not wanting to eat - handy to have some protein powder in for those times.