Shemed January Starters - Thread 4

[FatsiaJaponicaInTheGarden]

Hello everyone! I completely missed the other thread was full (haven't been too well this week) so I've started this one and will tag as many people as I can think of from recent pages. Do tag anyone else you think of that might miss the new thread!

I hope everyone is okay. It's been unsettling times hasn't it with all the news about the price increases and very little from Shemed as to what they are planning. I am hopeful that of all people we will be shielded the most due to being on the Study (fingers crossed).

I weighed in this morning and took second dose of the 10mg. I seemed to put on this morning but if I take the weight I've been most of this week...

I am exactly half way to my target! And I've lost 25% of my bodyweight!

10mg - so far no burps or nausea but I am wondering if this extreme tiredness is in part due to the drug. Was eating just as I was before the last couple of days but today don't want to eat so who knows!

I'll read up and tag people if I can.

Disappointed today. 0.5kg gain this week. I know it’s nothing & my period this week but usually get a drop after first few days so feeling meh!!

Wow can't believe a week (and a day) has passed since my last jab/check in. I do love catching up with everyone here -

@DearRaven Sorry it's stalling - I hope the move to wegovy goes smoothly.
@JBJ Wahoooo that's fantastic!
@Reginaphalangeeeee My periods are all over the place. I've twice now had periods with only 2 weeks in between and then I'll go 5-6 weeks... I don't know whether peri od MJ is the biggest contributing factor...

My weigh in on Friday- I'm 14st12!!! I'm very nearly at the 7 stone mark! It is crazy though to lose so much and still weigh as much as someone new to MJ could be weighing! I definitely feel better for it.

MY job is insanely busy and I'm working full time for the first time in forever. Its brilliant and I am happy but I am also beyond exhausted. I've taken electrolytes today in case that helps. I have half term now - I do need to pretty much work through but it will be at my own pace.

Hope everyone's okay - and that those moving across to wegovy are finding it okay etc x

Wow @FatsiaJaponicaInTheGarden I love following your journey!
I'm not jabbing tomorrow as usual as I'm on holiday but I feel great in my bikini, I've been to the gym twice and I'm eating healthily and definitely more active than usual.
I will probably jab as soon as I get home on Wednesday evening with my usual 2.5 and then back to Monday. That should get rid of any holiday weight gain I hope...
I was reading yesterday and I need to continue my research but I'm thinking daily weighing is the way forward so I will get back to that when I get home (I tend to avoid the scales after I know I've eaten to excess and it's a slippery slope).
I also need to order my Pharmulous prescription... The thing that's stopped me so far - I need to take a photo with a piece of paper and the date. It shouldn't be so difficult, I think this is the ADHD in action.

Oh @tinyemmy thats a proper result to reward all your hard work isn't it! Being on holiday and enjoying being in your bikini and able to eat well and be active ❤️.
Have the best time x

Weigh in day and 3lb lost, so 6st 0.5lb in total! Managed to not gain over the weekend at my friend’s house, largely, I think, due to having a horrendous gallstone attack after breakfast yesterday and being scared to eat anything else until I got back home this morning.

Triggers for it seem to be random. I had a latte with breakfast yesterday (in a pub) and instantly got an uncomfortable, over full feeling which turned into the horrible pain. I drink lattes at home, but I use skimmed milk, whereas I suspect this one was full fat, so will have to be careful there.

Oh my goodness, how many inspiring stories! Well done @JBJ @tinyemmy @FatsiaJaponicaInTheGarden

I don't have much to report, apart from having to go out and by a load of new sports bras as I was rattling around in the ones I bought pre-she-med. So that's from a 38H to a 32H! Expensive business, but lordy, it feels so good being properly supported and not having wrinkly cups!

Wow @kittykarate Thats a huge change in size! Well done.

@JBJ Sorry about the gallstone attack. I hope they get you sorted soon.

Not as scary as gallstones but I'm mainly veggie and natural foods and genuinely eating a lot less even though I've come down from 10 to 8mg. My sulphur burps had gone.... And today I've had sulphur burps and diahhreah. I had one sausage with dinner last night... And it's the only thing I cna think it is!

@FatsiaJaponicaInTheGardenit’s bizarre how certain foods cause a reaction. I can no longer eat onions without a very gurgly stomach, yet was always fine pre MJ. The gallstones are driving me mad as I can’t predict when it’ll hit. On holiday again next week and I’m very nervous about the pain starting whilst I’m driving to Wales, or getting really bad whilst I’m there with my non-driving son, as I’m not sure what we’d do. Can’t put my life on hold though just in case!

Worked out I’ve got less than 3st to lose before I can go riding, which makes me very excited! It doesn’t seem unachievable anymore! Bought myself a hat, as I don’t like borrowing them, and have a pair of jodhpurs in a size 14, which I bought in January as an incentive, and which I can now get on (can’t move in them like, but they just about go on 🤣). I literally cannot wait until I’m light enough to be able to book a session at my local riding for the disabled place. Concentrating on that instead of this wretched gallbladder!

Oooh that is exciting!! We are going to Scotland at Easter and I'd really like to be able to do one of those 1hr treks for beginners with my daughter.

That sounds great fun. How much more are you hoping to lose?

@FatsiaJaponicaInTheGarden you are storming ahead and smashing it. Well done!!!
I am so pleased for you but can’t help feeling a little left behind & deflated. Most people on all groups starting near my weight have drastically overtaken me. I am pleased for you all but wondering how to stop comparing my slow weight loss with others around me.

@JBLso sorry to hear about gallstones! I definitely don’t envy that! I guess it has to be little & often low fat diet? They do say coffee is good for gall stone though.

i’m mid horrid virus with temp & sore throat, but actually worst MJ shivers & struggling to stay warm. Weight still stalling at about 101.5kg. Maybe I’ll get sub 100 club one day. It’s not to takeaway from my wonderful 5.5 stone weight loss, just have such a long way to go still & appears very stubborn.

Having a serious think this morning after last nights post. I have been ok with slower weight loss although frustrated just assumed normal after a lot of weight loss.
Given I noticed the same is not true for all, I looked back at my recent stats.
in the last month I have lost just 1kg
in the last 3 months I have lost 4.5kg.
This is really slow and I have been on 10mg feeling suppression was good. I have had 2 holidays in that time & managed not to gain but likely a factor.

Just feeling really sad as I think how much these jabs cost me now & it doesn’t seem to be working the same for me.
Not only cost me in £’s but the extreme coldness, tiredness and brain fog for a few days post injection. I definitely don’t think I can afford (£’s or side effects) to go up a dose. I’m not sure that would even work anyway.

i don’t know. In a real pickle right now wondering what to do. I don’t think I can continue the weight loss alone but can’t stay like this with such minimal losses at great cost. I have another 20KG to loose which seems mammoth and unrealistic right now. Maybe my body has said-25%, that’s your lot for now.
i know some who have stalled for a week or so dig deep & make more changes/cut calories/be struck counting. I worry this will ruin my metabolism and I won’t be able to sustain such low levels of eating (like before) so tried to just keep going approach. But maybe this is not right either.

i don’t know. I feel lost right now, unsure how to keep going.

Chin up @Reginaphalangeeeee - you have done brilliantly to lose 25%! Mine has been slow also, but I know I don't have a gold standard diet.

You've said your suppression is still good, so maybe it's time for a think about what you're eating. The body/mind is a weird old beast, and I'm sure it spends days and nights plotting on sabotaging weight loss. It's very easy to drift from a small portion of something lower calorie to something calorie dense but nutritional. (e.g. I can trough nuts without thinking about it, and I have to be careful I don't go "but they're not unhealthy")

If I were you I'd join a slimming club. I go to slimming world. You can do something like that or join the many online things going (I'm not a fan of TeamRH but they are one or the EC method, although quite pricey).
You can't just jab and go, there needs to be a plan to what you're eating. I spent months just having lunch and dinner and a small pudding. Only made possible by mj. This would have been around 1000 calories per day. You either need to track calories or follow some other structure that will shrink calories. 1kg is around 7000 calories so over the course of 30 days you dropped less than 250 calories per day. If you increase that deficit to 500 calories per day you will lose 2kg over the month. Are you tracking your food? You could use myfitnesspal, or I use nutracheck. This isn't something you need to do forever but you do need to figure out where your extras are coming from. If you're happy with what you are eating then keep going knowing that those kilos will add up. Be honest, could you do this without the mj (probably not, I couldn't!!).

Have a think which way you want to go, happy to help find you something that will work. I also look at the posts about what people have eaten for ideas. You'll see a lot of them don't eat a lot. That was my problem, thinking I could eat more than I could (plus the chocolate binging etc...)

Thanks @tinyemmy and @kittykarate.
yes I have tracked calories. I don’t do it every day but a few days each week to keep myself in check. Yes my TDEE is 2200-2400 depending on activity levels and I am eating 1600.
Slimming world l/weight watchers has never done anything for me except end in binge eating disorder and very low self esteem.
I haven’t lost 34.5 kg this year by eating rubbish or not having insight into my foods. I am trying hard not to drop calories low to something unsustainable as fear this will surely backfire.
But thanks for your comments. Left thinking this is the conclusion most make too along with me. It must be something I am doing wrong.

Honestly - I don't think you're necessarily doing anything wrong, and I hope you haven't taken that from my message. I was just wondering if you'd had a little drift in attentiveness, as I know I've done that sometimes. Or you know, it's just the run into winter and your body is hanging onto every scrap and being really reluctant to let it go. Or you've had your flu or covid jab and again, your body is just acting the goat about that (my current theory for my last week gain). When I started on this journey I was pretty reliably over 2kg a month.. now it's really slowed down for me as my tdee is lower and it's harder to walk the line between having enough nutritious food without stepping over.

No no offence taken @kittykarate
The only consistent thing that’s changed is I am very cold! I am eating a lot more soup.
I was fasting til 12 over the summer but was looking at my protein levels and with my hormones being whack and being so cold I added protein (huel) for breakfast but only account 150 extra Kcal a day. To be fair it has not made me any less cold but thought better for my metabolism. I don’t think this could be it.
i suspect my hormones are at play and that paired with over 25% my body weight loss my body is being stubborn but I don’t want to eat too little and rebound like every other time!

I also wasn't intending to cause offense, just attempting to be helpful in my own little way...
Have you had your thyroid, iron, vit D and B12 checked?
Not sure if PCOS can cause this sort of hormonal imbalance and whether that's worth checking too.
I have been taking a multivitamin containing the latter vits and minerals. I also take magnesium at night as sleep is so important for everything to be working.
I have an underactive thyroid so take thyroxine, plus HRT gel and progesterone alongside the vitamins and I think with the mj my body finally works how it is supposed to (sadly still not as much food as I'd wanted/expected/hoped)

Thanks yes I take Vit D, K, magnesium and collagen and biotin.
bloods done with SheMed x3 this year and all perfect except good cholesterol a bit low.

I don't think they tested vit D, B12 and TSH. They didn't with me... Although I think some people got TSH. I'm not sure I'd trust it. The bloods were wildly off what I had done at my private medical, in a good way (the SheMed bloods indicated a liver problem that the other bloods didn't, although it could of course just be a moment in time)

@JBJ to get to "not obese" I've got 1stone 9 to lose. To get to "normal bmi" I've got just under 4 stone left to lose- around 24kg.

@Reginaphalangeeeee (((((((((( @Reginaphalangeeeee)))))))). It's such a strange journey isn't it. Im so sorry my posts have mad you feel bad 😔.
You've lost 5.5 stone in less than a year and that is incredible. I still have a bit further to go than you to get to healthy - I've got 24kg to go (I think I'm shorter) and I've been fully expecting the weight loss for me to slow down for a while as I don't think it's normal to sustain the pace - people tend to slow down as they get closer to their goal. It's hard not to compare though isn't it as its human nature to - I think on the 10stone plus thread many of them have slowed down after initial fast weight loss (I haven't read that for ages - I so thought in half term I'd be "on top of things"!!). I'm pretty sure I'm neither the fastest or slowest loser there too. It's hard to lose sight of all you've achieved when there still seems a lot to go - I still feel like that at times which is so silly as at the beginning of the year I never believed I'd lose half this much!

I stalled on 7.5 so went up to 10 and it really was too much for me. I had sulphur burps and nausea and wasn't really wanting to eat. After a while I dropped down to 8 where I am now and my general appetite still isn't good even though I've dropped. I am not sure this is at all healthy and I have to consciously try to include nuts/veg etc. I am not anywhere near the recommended protein.

Remember too - I started ADHD meds around easter sometime so I have 2 things going on at once so if you are going to compare its not even a fair comparison.

I am really surprised I'm currently still losing tbh. I did start an exercise programme with weights but I'm not sure that's it. I have been working full time which is another complete change for me. First time in 18 years 😳. So that could be creating a sense of rhythm (or exhaustion/lack of time to think about food) I really don't know.

I'm m not sure fasting is great for most women and have to have breakfast for my adhd meds so do eat 3x a day but (probably die to the combination of drugs) I gave more "suppression" since summer than I've ever had and I'm not sure it's healthy. I'm v tired. When I tried to predicted weight loss myself earlier this year I expected it to slow down for me by now and I'm fully expecting it to any day....

Not sure if any of that is helpful - please don't let my random story put you off your journey 😔.

@FatsiaJaponicaInTheGardenyeah I’m about the same. My aim is to get below 13st, as that seems to be the weight limit at every riding school, then see how I feel.

If I could get to 'not obese' and stay there I'd be made up. I've never been slim, I've always been varying amounts of overweight since childhood.

@kittykarate I agree - I can't imagine being able to say "not obese" but it's looking possible now!

Well, I’ve had a shocking week with these stupid gallstones and can barely eat 500cals a day at the minute as everything seems to be triggering them. Really don’t know what to do from the MJ perspective- is it wise to carry on with it? Been told I could be looking at a couple of years for a routine gallbladder removal, and I’m in agony most of the time (also hideously constipated and vertigo has returned. I’ve completely had enough at the minute!).

Any thoughts? Already got the gallstones, so will MJ make things worse? Seeing my GP on Monday, so I’ll ask his advice then. My concern if I stop is that the hunger will come back, yet I won’t be able to eat much due to the gallstones, and that’ll be a whole other fresh hell 🤣