January 2025 Starters - Thread 10 - Onward & Downward Losers!

[meatyryvita]

thread 10 already!

@Jins congratulations! That is such a brilliant milestone
@MJalltheway thats so interesting about the reason for using rwo different needles. I had never injected myself at all before MJ. I remember I actually put it off 24 hours as I was so scared!
@discov disappointed you've been cheating on us with the Ousk Facebook group 🤣 hope you get the pens you need
I feel a bit similar to you, sad that my plans for final weight loss and maintenance are disrupted.But, I do feel incredibly lucky to have been on this journey when I have, with all of you lovely supporters!
@2025istheyeari let us know how the bra fitting goes. That is another thing I really need to out on my list! Putting it off while I 'settle ' on a maintenance weight. But I genuinely don't have a bra that fits anymore 😕. Last year, I accepted my weight, bought new clothes that fit and new underwear and got rid of all the small stuff that had been hanging around! ( great timing!)
In my more contemplative moments I do wonder whether it was that acceptance that made me emotionally ready for the MJ journey?
@DGonMJ @PenelopePerseveres I wonder how nany people will move to wegovy or start their whole journey on it? I didn't realise it was manufactured in the UK. I feel unpatriotic for taking MJ now ( not really! It's been amazing! 😂)
I think whoever gets a tablet form of MJ first for maintenance ( like a statin) cheap, easy to administer, no cold chain to maintain, will be a hero!
@CurlsandCurves it sounds like you have had a tricky few weeks. Hopefully if things settle down your weight loss will too!
I am starting the first day of my leave with a little bit of work ( as yesterday was so manic) and I am working doing some independent work to earn extra for Christmas on Tuesday but apart from that I'm free!!!
Going to get started on my day. My town are having a festival this afternoon so I better be ready to party 🥳 🎉 🙂
Have a great weekend everyone 😀

@jins seeing an 8 feels great. Well done!

@MJalltheway that is huge!

@BreezyPeer enjoy your day!

Things I realised when I was today years old. That you can type your response as you read, and even if you skip a page it stays as a draft 🙄

Went for a run, and a swim yesterday - followed by a couple of beers and an unplanned curry. Weight fluctuates by the day, but remains the same week on week for the past month. So maintaining well. My sweet tooth is coming back with the never ending cake (threw the last of it away yesterday) but I'm not seeing much else increase.

Ive decided to get a grip on a few things this week - mainly gut health (bought some kefir) to try and improve things down there, and reducing fake sweetened drinks again.

Haven't heard anything further from Oushk, so assuming they are ploughing their way through 4000 emails. I really just need one more pen to see me to the end of titrating down, but ordered two just in case.

Enjoy your weekends!

Morning losers 😍, I’m posting and dashing so 🙏 for short post/not replying - will return later on on a bigger screen 🤓. Actually off to see about varifocals after my weight verification 🤣.

Can I just share this 🤩. Big news today. Meant to be 💉 today but my appetite is too small to be healthy, might put it off until tomorrow and go back to 5mg if nothing changes overnight.

Thanks all for your lovely comments! I can’t tell you what a relief it was to finally tick that target weight off!

@MJalltheway that’s such an impressive statistic! I’ve dropped 5 years and I’m now 2 years younger than actual age but taking 30 years off is absolutely amazing.

We had a fabulous day yesterday with a trip to our local open air theatre production. It was unbelievably hot in the seats, no shade at all. Topped my tan up nicely though. A couple of people had to be taken out with what I assume was heatstroke. DH headed straight off to catch up with his old school friends on their annual camping trip so I had the house to myself until DS2 finished his shift.

@PenelopePerseveres i know exactly how you feel about wanting to provide a home for adult children. My oldest is now in his own place and in a good place career wise but DS2 is not at all academic and is completely happy working in a supermarket so he’ll be here for a while! I’ll always have a room for them both though.

I’m still so angry that the price hikes have had such an impact on us all and our plans for maintaining. It’s particularly annoying that it’s claimed to bring the UK in line with prices in Europe. Since Brexit it seems to have been the only thing I’ve come across that has been cheaper for us! I’d take a chance on Wegovy myself but there’s a niggling worry that it might be the GIP that’s benefitting me so at the moment I’m sticking with MJ. At some point there’ll be tablets or a generic version so I’m pinning my hopes on that. I feel really sorry for people who’ve just started or are thinking about it.

Have a great weekend losers!

@MJallthewaythat is impressive! Knocking 30 years off! I kind of wish I’d bought some of those fancy scales at the start because it would be satisfying to know those kind of stats.

@BreezyPeer haha the fb page is crackers but I just can’t stop myself from browsing. I’m also on the maintenance one and it’s very similar.

i do actually feel a bit more positive about the whole thing now. I’ve managed to order a 5mg and a 2.5mg on top of the 7.5 I have stashed in the fridge, which will take me back down the doses. Not sure if you’re meant to go slower than titrating back down monthly but it’s the best I can do. It’s given me the push to try and ‘go it alone’ eventually, and I’m going to funnel the saved money every month into some other act of self care such as some classes or some PT sessions as I definitely need it. I think that would benefit me more long-term, as much as I would love to stay on MJ as it’s worked wonders for me. I just hope that those who have seen huge health benefits from it on top of weight loss can find a way to keep taking it.

@CurlsandCurves I was on 7.5 for a few months and started bouncing up and down the same few lbs, and a move up to 10mg was the thing that gave me a real boost and I dropped a few lbs and stayed there. So it’s definitely worth considering if you feel stagnant!

@PenelopePerseveres amazing work, congrats!!!! You must be thrilled.

thanks guys, I honestly feel 30 years younger as well, it's so transformative.

that's such a good idea @discov to channel the MJ money into personal training or something like that, i think thats what I'll do when i get to that stage.

I missed @PenelopePerseveres in my last post. I’m so pleased for you. You’ve had some ups and downs but that’s a great result. Obviously you need more holidays, that seems to have helped.

@discov going down a dose monthly sounds ok to me. You could do the jabs every 10 days if you want to extend your time on MJ. The bonus dose would be over the 30 days though.

The costs for me going forward are a worry. My work dried up during Covid so there wasn’t much in the pot when I closed my business and that’s all gone now. My monthly income now comes from a local government pension from 11 years service, a NS&I income bond and any premium bond winnings and it’s been a bit tight once my WLI savings were used up. DH keeps telling me to take it from our joint account but I find that hard. I’ve always earned my own money and at points over the years have been the high earner. I’ve always paid for things that are ‘mine’ myself and using ‘family money’ doesn’t sit right with me. There isn’t much I can cut back on so I’m going to have to change that attitude.

I don’t want to go back to my previous work but I’m seriously considering joining DS2 in a supermarket while DH is still working part-time

@Jins keeping you healthy and active is in the interest of your family, don't feel bad using the famiy account for that!

After the surgery, I'm more determined than ever to keep the weight down and fitness up. Of course some things can't be helped, illnesses and so, but I really want to do all I can to stay healthy and active. Because it's really no fun whatsoever if I have all the time in the world, but the best I can do is a slowly shuffle..
Use it or lose it, as this article put it: https://www.vitalityrehabfit.co.uk/post/difference-in-muscle-size-untrained-senior-vs-senior-triathlete

I know you’re right @HeidiNotSoHeavy and so is he but I’ll never tell him that. I mean we threw £££ at private surgery for him to skip a 4 year waiting list and there was never any doubt that that would come from joint savings. It’s just me being stupid about maintaining financial independence.

I’m at goal now so costs will reduce as I titrate down and I’m sure that when the current flurry ends we’ll see pharmacies cutting prices to compete with others again.

Anyway - things will ease when state pension kicks in. I’m sure I’ve read that pensioners are rolling in money on MN 🤣

@MJalltheway what an amazing achievement, 30 years down!
@PenelopePerseveres congrats, bet you feel amazing!

@Jins my opinion, for what it’s worth is that you’ve invested so much in your health to get to where you are now. And that investment deserves to be protected. But I do get the wanting to be independent as well.

Thanks for all the input on my situation, I’m going to move up to 10. I’ve got about 3 doses of 7.5 in y current pen. Plus another 7.5 pen, and I’ve just ordered a 10, but that’s awaiting processing at the moment.

@Jins & @PenelopePerseveres I'm so happy for both of you on the scales front (really living up to your name Penelope!); sorry that this weeks orange news might throw a spanner in the works 🤬 (never has the colour of that emoji been so appropriate!).

@Jins I totally agree with Heidi; your health is a family investment! Not all resources that we contribute to a marriage are purely financial. I could say more, but I'll shut up now! 😂

Week 34 jab here and my 3rd 10mg which seems to have given me a bit of a kick after not much movement for the last 2 months, yay 🙌
CW is 11.1.0; fingers crossed I might see something beginning with a 10 soon 🤞

I hope that everyone finds a way through this situation and manages to continue with their success.

I was reading an interesting thread on reddit asking how much you are paying if in the US. Basically extremely complex due to whatever insurance situation and obviously the US litigious culture makes things much more expensive.
As usual, the orange buffoon completely fails to understand true business situations and that not all markets operate the same way. Twat!
Was also interesting to read that Mounjaro & Zepbound are essentially the same medication but have different FDA approval for T2 diabetes or weight loss/OSA respectively, so all those on that awful other thread that keep persevering with the line that we are stealing diabetics' medicines would be just completely shut down if it was marketed here under zepbound. 😂

@MJalltheway what an amazing achievement, 30 years down!
@PenelopePerseveres congrats, bet you feel amazing!

@Jins my opinion, for what it’s worth is that you’ve invested so much in your health to get to where you are now. And that investment deserves to be protected. But I do get the wanting to be independent as well.

Thanks for all the input on my situation, I’m going to move up to 10. I’ve got about 3 doses of 7.5 in y current pen. Plus another 7.5 pen, and I’ve just ordered a 10, but that’s awaiting processing at the moment.

@Jinscongratulations on getting into the 8 stone range. It’s great isn’t it for us shorties! I’m still hovering around at the top but I’ve had family staying so definitely haven’t lost anything these last 12 days.

Also on that reddit thread, a European said that they buy a 15mg pen but use it for 2.5mg dose, so it lasts 6 months rather than 1. Here we all are panicking wondering if it's okay to have the bonus dose, and others are going to those lengths to save money! 🤣

@CurlsandCurves you're where I was a little while ago; 7.5 had been working fine, so that's what I'd kept ordering and then when it didn't work/slowed down, I was stuck with the pen I was using plus the spare I had in the fridge. In retrospect maybe I would have been better getting a 10mg pen a couple of months ago and then counting clicks. Or failing that, ordering a 10 and saving the 7.5 for on the way back down (very hopeful there that reaching goal would be before expiry date of the pen! 😂).

I'm currently using 5 pen for about 3.75 and planning to go down - so it should last me more than 2 months, always kept in fridge. Not sure about 6 months though, feels like slightly pushing it.
Might jab this evening again, skipped this Thursday. Will be home recovering next week and I know myself, will be all about boredom snacking.

Stretching out to every 10 days is a good idea actually @Jins. Being over the 30 days doesn’t bother me at all now as I keep it in the fridge anyway. I was so wary at the start but would happily split a bigger pen in to a few more weeks doses. 15mg over 6 months a la Reddit person is pushing it a bit for me though 😄

Also I am echoing what everyone else has said re your health. Definitely an investment worth doing for you.

I forgot to jab yesterday. Will do 5mg today I think and go to weekly jabs to see how I get on. The last time I jabbed weekly was at the end of June and it was 6.25mg so 5 feels about right. Fingers crossed that I don’t get the side effects. I’ve definitely got 3 5mg dose in this pen and possibly 4 so I won’t need to start my new pen until mid September. I should get 10 5mg doses out of that so theoretically I should need to order again when I finish that one. As I’ll have 2 in the fridge at that point I’ll switch to the Oushk flex plan. It’s worth £15 a month to be able to hop back on it and it’ll still work out cheaper than buying at the new prices.

I get what you’re all saying about using family money, really I do. I’m technically a boomer but stayed in education long enough to have had none of their advantages and all of the Gen X struggles. My parents were war babies. My mum qualified top of her year in a vocational subject, worked two years then had to give up when she had me. My friends mums had similar stories and as children do we rejected everything they stood for at the time 🤣🤦‍♀️. Coupled with the wisdom of the time being to never rely on a man for money I’m all messed up. Never fear my pens will be paid for from the joint account from now on and I think I’ve built in enough breathing space by getting 3x 10mg pens to save up another pot of WLI cash.

I’m trying not to get sucked into the drama about cost but it’s certainly a concern.

I have one 10ml (bonus) dose left, then two unopened 12mg pens in the fridge. If I can space my dosage out to ten days, and keep dosage no higher than 10, I think I can eke it out until mid/end November.

I have my verification call with Oushk in a few weeks and can’t order until after that anyway. I think I will see what they suggest during that call. I am 9:4 today, so only four pounds off goal. If I never lose another pound I will still be at a healthy BMI and wearing size 10/12 clothes, so I’m really concerned with being able to maintain.

That’s fantastic , @mince3point14159265 and @PenelopePerseveres!!
@MJalltheway that’s an amazing achievement- 30 years!!! Bet you feel brilliant!

@CurlsandCurves sounds like a tricky few weeks, hope you’re ok and that things are on the up.

@BreezyPeer enjoy the festival!

Hope you’re feeling better @HeidiNotSoHeavy .

thanks for pumpkin seed oil recommendation @myladyjane, I didn’t know such a thing existed!!

No news from Oushk here either, but my next one arrived yesterday so I have one at least!! Hoping they approve the 2 7.5mg I ordered so I can start titrating down but I imagine they’re completely overwhelmed!

Isn’t that thread awful, I’ve had to stop looking. People are just so aggressive 😳

Which thread is that @2025istheyeari? I need to avoid aggressive threads at the moment.

Milestone!

SW 80kg
CW 63kg
GW tbc, 60ish

63kg puts me under ten stone! (I’m happy to mix units, every goal counts). One more kilo and I’ll finally be reporting a weight in the healthy range too.

@Jins Big price increases threads 1 and 2, avoid, it’s unpleasant…

@Aimingdown 💪🏻brilliant news, well done!!

@2025istheyeari thanks for that. I’ll scroll on by. Normally I don’t mind getting stuck in but not at the moment.

@Aimingdown - great result 🥳

Thanks everyone 🙏. Well done @mince3point14159265 and @MJalltheway and @Aimingdown 🏆.

@Jins spend the money. You know you are worth it.🌹

Neither of my orders are approved yet. I had a weight verification call earlier at Oushk (a fairly stern young man - no niceties whatsoever). I got round the height thing by standing a sewing yard stick up from ground level and then taping a tape measure to the door frame above it if that helps anyone. Laughable, my wooden stick is a yard, shows inches, so I taped the inches side of my measure above it - I fear I confused the man. 😂

No luck on varifocals due to an accident en route so I will need to do that another time (soon!).

I've decided to go for 6.25mg tomorrow. New 7.5mg pen so I'll get six weeks at that.