Late April ‘25 starters - thread 5

[wlinewbie0425]

Creating this in advance, as the old thread is suddenly moving quickly due to recent events. No matter what challenges lie ahead we are still making amazing progress - so let’s keep supporting one another along the way as we approach 4 months ‘on the pen’.

Good luck getting approval @PeachSnail. I need to buy a new pen and should switch supplier but I'm dithering, just need to pick the cheapest for my pen and get on with it!

Lost a pound this week, taking me to just over 3 stone lost and 2 to go! In a fortnight I'll have been on MJ for 6 months. In the 4 months of dieting alone before MJ, I lost only a stone. It definitely feels surreal.

SW: 15 1
CW: 12 0
GW: 10

I've just ordered a new pen and with my current supplier 10mg is £284!!! I had a discount due to fault with prior pen so it was only £90 but I am not sure how much longer I can keep going at these prices?

I'm unfortunately someone who is going to need to remain on some kind of maintenance dose. I still struggle on 10mg sometimes, there is no way I can go it alone.

I am just over a stone from goal weight and although I'm utterly thrilled with my loss to date and I look and feel so much healthier, I can't help but to think how precarious it all is.

I think when I get to goalweight and manage to find a maintenance dose that doesn't bankrupt me then I'm going to look into therapy.

I'm currently just dealing with the "symptoms" and and not the cause.

Sorry to be such a whinger. I have obviously done something so incredibly positive over the past 6 months and I am so thankful for this but I don't feel cured. I feel like I'm always going to need this help / support to remain a healthy weight!!

well done on all the great losses @Nearlyhadenough @PeachSnail @Coventree @wlinewbie0425 @dozywelshbird @Coffeeandallthebooks

@Crunchymum we are used to bowel talk here! that's excellent news about your dad!

@wlinewbie0425 can't wait to see our collective total, it's gonna be huuuuge!

Morning everyone. Weekly weigh in for me and it’s -1.8lbs. My biggest loss for absolutely ages. I put this down to 1) doing sober October and 2) upping the exercise.

I’ve also been tracking calories more this week and have discovered that I really don’t eat much - usually around 900 - 1,000 calories. I know the MN diet boards would be horrified at this but I am quite a small person and have ample energy for running & weights so 🤷‍♀️ (I remember diets always being 1,000 calories a day back in the dark ages when I was a lass). It’s a bit depressing though as I expect my maintenance calories will be very low.

Stats:

SW 12st 7.5lb. BMI 31.0
CW 9st 5.6lb BMI 23.3

25% of me gone

I moved myself down to 5.25mg (from 6mg) this week and have officially moved into maintenance with Juniper, although I still want to lose about half a stone. I have one 5mg pen - due to start next week - and my first 2.5mg maintenance dose pen. I was hoping the 5mg pen would be my last and then I’ll stop & keep the 2.5mg for January if needed. But I’m now doubting myself, so we’ll see.

Next week is my 6 month weigh in, which gives me motivation for another good week.

Well done to everyone on continuing this life changing journey. It is slow now but we keep chipping away at it. Have great weekends.

(edited for typo)

Weigh-in day today and I've lost -2.5lbs which at this stage in the game feels like a lot.

14.5lbs to GW, although back when I was first starting out I said my GW was what I weigh today!! I lowered it though as I'm short and even with 47lbs lost I'm still not in the healthy BMI range. My current BMI is 26.6 - close but no cigar.

Well done @AbundanceofKatherines my GW is similar to yours - 9st (I'm 5ft 1in though so 9st puts me in the middle of healthy BMI). I feel almost afraid of getting there 😮 but I'm still a while a away. Will have to start researching maintenance at some stage!! How fantastic is that?

Wow @Crunchymum - 2.5lbs is massive at this stage - I would sell my first born for a week like that! Although, at 28 years of age, he might not be mine to sell.

Well done!

No weight loss again this week. 😥 I've still lost 4 stone so hopefully I've just got some water retention and it will leave soon and giveca whoosh. I haven't eaten more than 1100 calories any day I've averaged 900 per day. 🤷‍♂️
Lots of shopping NSVs I shopped in Zara for the first time ever. I am now the proud owner of 2 pairs of Levis jeans.
Have a good weekend everyone.

Congrats on the losses @AbundanceofKatherinesanf @Coffeeandallthebooks🎉♥️

@Crunchymum as we reach the 6 month mark it is good to reflect on what we've achieved and what the future might hold. It's great that MJ has given you some breathing space to take stock of what's going on with your relationship with food. You will have already established some healthy patterns and behaviours and hopefully they can be building blocks for approaching other, deeper issues with a positive "I can do this" mindset. I hope therapy gives you more of the tools you need to work through things 💪

I'm also going through a bit of a panic about what life might be like when I stop taking MJ... I'd feel utterly crushed if I ended up gaining all the weight again... But I also have established some good changes and I really hope I can make them permanent 🙏

I've been reading about the supplement, berberine
https://healf.com/blogs/health-journal/berberine-benefits?twsource=google&twadid=&twcampaign=20175251038&twkwdid=&gadsource=1&gadcampaignid=20175253168&gclid=CjwKCAjwr8LHBhBKEiwAy47uUsw5osvQl2sXufxXJMoudH13quJnOdNwBAadMxLtYicRy7yNemucxRoCgO4QAvDBwE

Has anyone else got any knowledge or experience of it? Sounds like it might be something that could help in place of MJ once we come off it?

Well, Friday weigh in, 1 week away from 6 months and have reached my target weight!! I have also crept into the 9 stones. Had a look at MFP and the last time I was in the 9s was in 2013 when I got married. 12 years ago! Stats below and attached my results table from Shotsy (might take a while to get approved).

SW: 13st 3 (BMI 31)
CW: 9st 13.5 (BMI 22.5)
GW: 10st

I feel so happy and can't quite believe it tbh, but at the same time a bit emotional and like @Crunchymum and @PeachSnail feeling a bit anxious about whether I can maintain this going forward without MJ. I just keep thinking 'what do I do now'? I mean I obviously couldn't maintain it previously so things will seriously need to change. I have 1 full 5mg pen and probably 1 dose in my current pen. I estimate that to be around 6 or 7 weeks left of doses similar to what I am taking now which is 4.2mg (50 clicks). I have taken 4.2 this morning. Like you @AbundanceofKatherines my calories have been pretty low whilst on MJ so my maintenance calories are going to be low - although higher than they are now which is some consolation.

Hope you will all still have me on this group as we have come a long way together and I don't feel like my journey is over yet!

I have treated myself to a new swimsuit to wear for a spa day I having next month for my birthday! Tried it on and it looked good. Always hated myself in swimwear.

Congrats on all the NSVs and losses - @Crunchymum massive loss this week! Lovely to see everyone getting closer to target.@Merlin23 congrats at shopping at Zara and new Levis! Will provide total loss next Friday for the 6 month add up @wlinewbie0425

Have a wonderful weekend everyone 😊

Massive congratulations @violetmondays on reaching your goal weight 🎊

You superstar!!

Enjoy your spa trip and rock the new swimsuit. You've done an amazing job.

That's amazing @violetmondays well done!

i hope you have an amazing time in your new swimsuit on your spa day. Even better will be knowing you look fabulous before you've had a single treatment done 🥳

Congratulations @violetmondays absolutely amazing achievement 🥂

@violetmondays
Congratulations!
Enjoy or hope you've enjoyed your spa day!

Huge congratulations @violetmondayson reaching your goal. Enjoy your spa day. Please stay in the thread and keep us updated on maintaining as we will all be there in the end. 😊. Some of us like me will just take a lot longer. I’ve lost 4 stone 2 and could do with losing that again but can’t
decide on a target weight until I get closer. Xx

@PeachSnail I started taking berberine just before MJ, when I gave up refined sugar, so it's totally unscientific as both of those also cause a loss of appetite. I got a year pack of one a day tablets and will definitely carry on with them.

Saturday morning is weigh day for me. Lost another 1lb giving me a total loss of 3 stone 3lb.
My 6 month anniversary is tomorrow so @wlinewbie0425 thats a 45lb loss for your running total.

@violetmondays congratulations on reaching target! What an achievement 🏆
Definitely stay with us to share your experience of maintenance.

@violetmondays well done on reaching your target, amazing! Enjoy your spa day x

Ive struggled to stay on top of reading and responding to posts, as work and life have been a real carnival for a few weeks now. But I am still here and I’m so proud of everyone here !

I am having a slump- fed up of food, fed up of feeling tired, evil period this month and am constipated again after though this was long solved. Feeling very sorry for myself but actually I’m pretty sure I’m not doing myself any favours… ie not eating properly.

ive been caring for a friend recently who has had surgery, lots of running back and forth to help, alongside building work in the house that has gone well beyond timescale and now I’m coming home from work to paint/ sand , run to B&Q etc to try and get the rooms liveable again. I’m also working way over my working hours due to very heavy workload in a job that I can’t just close the laptop on at 5. pity party for 1 in the valley 🤣🤣🤣🤣

anyway. I’m going to do better. I’m getting the slow cooker out (again!) today and going to make some soup to shoehorn some veggies into my life.

thanks for listening to me whinge xx

Well done @violetmondays . You have done well. As have you @cannyvalley , it does feel like a slog at times and building work is just shit. My advice is to spend some time today making a room lovely, then get on with the rest of it knowing that when you stop you have somewhere nice to put your feet up.
Weigh day today and I’m finally under 87 kilos- 86.7 . It’s taken 6 weeks from 87kilos, a very long stall with lots of oh fuck it moments. A loss of .5 kilos, must not let that come back! I’ve got friends round for dinner tonight. We went to them a few weeks back and they catered for a multitude. We are making a salad!

Thanks for all the lovely comments and congrats - I will definitely hang around and will be on MJ for the next couple of months. It will be interesting to see what happens, whether that’s maintaining, or losing a few more pounds to act as a buffer. I have lots of food related plans from now through to Christmas with my 50th coming up and other family birthdays etc so I’m hoping the MJ will help me not to derail. I don’t particularly want to continue losing weight at this point so will probably have to either drop the dose or consciously increase calories a bit. Will keep you posted!

@cannyvalley it sounds like you’re burning out, could you maybe take a day or two off to get on top of things and recharge? It will do you the world of good.

@Zebracat your determination is paying off, congrats on your loss and enjoy your salad!!

@wendywoopywoo222 you’ve done amazing already losing 4 stone 2, you don’t have to decide on target yet, you’ll know when you feel good enough to stop.

@PeachSnail I started taking berberine just before MJ. I’m not sure I felt it did much but I didn’t take it for long. I’ve read that you should only take it for short periods and not to stay on it long term, and generally I’m more worried about taking things that haven’t been tested/researched to the extent that GLP1s have. But I may look into it again in the future.

@violetmondays thank you. I do feel quite burned out. It just feels like any disruption adds so much to already busy lives! The building work is a home office for me though, so it’s a really amazing exiting thing … as well as being stressful. But I will likely be working in my new home office by Monday, after working in my dining room since lockdown…. So that’s a huge deal and I’m grateful.

I’ve got a flexi day off on Friday… I haven’t told anyone (other than my wife , kids and dog) and plan to lay around all morning watching Netflix and drinking coffee , before doing something nice with the teen who will be off for half term. Small pleasures!

@Zebracat thank you. I can’t wait to start faffing around deciding where lamps will go and loving rearranging my books !

SW 17.7
CW 14.0
WK 26 - lost the 2lb I put on the week before in Portugal!!
total loss - 49lb

6 months on this journey with you lovely lot!!!! We have all achieved amazing things and should be so proud of ourselves!!!
Well done everyone on the NSV’s, weight losses and just battling everyday shite and not turning to the biscuits!!!!
Have a fab week!!!

Well done on all the great losses!! @AbundanceofKatherines @Crunchymum @violetmondays @Scousebloke @Zebracat @BeachBodyAim

@AbundanceofKatherines 25% and officially in maintenance! that's amazing, well done!

@violetmondays 25% and goal weight for you too, amazing well done!!

@cannyvalley that's a lot to deal with, sending you a hug x I hope the new office makes work much more comfortable after so long at the dining table

@Zebracat well done on persevering through that long stall!

Jab and weigh in day for me, I am very very pleased with this weeks loss after only losing 0.2 last week, I got a much nicer 3.8lbs loss this week!
Total loss is now 53.5lbs!

Feeling pretty pleased with myself for hitting the 50lbs milestone this week and I also went down to the next stone bracket, I'm now in the 15s. I know that is still bigger than a lot of you even started at but it's a whole lot better than almost 20

SW 19st11 CW 15st13.5

I hope you are all having a great weekend!