May 2025 Starters Thread 6 - We’re all totes protes now ✌️

[FlorenceNightshade]

As requested a protein and fibre filled shiny new thread for us!!

Thanks lovely.x

I am with you @Gingercar and @HKG my losses have been slow and i am a few lbs away from 3 stones.. october has seen only a 8lbs loss and September wasnt better. It hard to think about the cost of the pen and the apparent lack of results…
but im thinking thta if i had not been on MJ, i would have probably gained - i have had a really shitty time in sept/oct so considering everything the minimal losses are not too bad. Things are slightly better now so i have upped my dose slightly, im focusing on protein and water and on the gym. Hopefully things will shift soon!

i’ve always gained in winter so im not super surprised by the slow losses. It may also be my body adjusting to this new pattern!

@Gingercar have you thought about increasing how often you jab? I’ve not done this myself but have read on other threads about people struggling with suppression leaving 5 days between doses. Or maybe give yourself a partial dose as a “top up” to see if it helps?

Obviously that’s against prescribing guidance but maybe something to think about and have a read on other threads.

Likewise absolutely nothing wrong with just keeping doing what you’re doing and feel free to ignore this suggestion! I hope you feel an improvement soon whatever you do! 😘

@HKGI like your theory of skin catch up time. It’s a wise reminder to be patient and trust the process.
@Apprenantetrust me, I’m eating plenty of veg I’ve actually always enjoyed salad and vegetables and I continue to stick with my lowish carb, v low sugar approach whilst concentrating on protein, plants and pulses. I was having a whinge about it being a lot harder to stick to after all these months, but I am sticking to it regardless.

Have a good week everyone. It’s apparently going to be warmer this week so let’s hope we can get to spend some time outside.

Funnily enough I woke up wondering about that. I might try it for the last half of this 7.5 pen and see how it works. If I’m on 7.5, perhaps taking 4mg every four days might kick in something.

I think I’m a bit tired after having the cafe open every day for Halloween, plus a late night from seeing Duran Duran. The cafe is back to weekends only and four hours a day, so I have more time to me things. The dogs barely got walked at all last week.

I know what you mean @Gingercar its hard when we are out of our routine! I’m away to start nights this week so eating at random times and not getting as much sleep will make it tougher to stay on track!

Will be interested to know if you chose to change your dosing schedule and if it makes a difference - keep us updated 😍

Good luck with the Nights Florence. I used to struggle with winter nights as I got so cold. Hope they go well.

If it is any consolation at all to those who think being around 3 stone lost is slow and disheartening, I am still at just over 1 stone lost. I would be delighted to have even made it to the 2 stone lost mark! Sometimes the body just needs a while to adjust, to catch up with the loss and reset the set point. There will be a whoosh eventually, just keep going. Up doses if you need to, take doses closer together, up protein, up fibre, take a week or two tracking every single thing and see if there has been carb/calore creep etc, and sit down with a journal and write down your 'why'. All the reasons, not just the size and weight, but all those NSV things that we have all had along the way with this - no matter how much or how little we have lost! We've got this, my friends xxx

I'm at about 3 stone and 4 lbs ish loss at the moment which is obviously less than the 4 stoners on here.

But I do remind myself that without WLI I definitely would not be at this loss and I would still be fighting that 2 lbs loss then 2lbs gain month after month.

I also stayed on 5mg for a good 4 months and only recently went up to 7.5mg which I would like to stay on for as long as possible.

I think I am about half way in my weight loss journey, but realise that it may take longer in terms of months versus the actual weight. Personally I would be happy if I could achieve another 3 stone by mid Summer next year.

I think it is so easy to get distracted when reading about other people's weight losses and also a bit flippant about the numbers of stones etc. I'm so used to reading on other threads about people who have lost 5, 7 or 8 stone that I'm forgetting I would be in utter awe and amazement of somebody who had done this say at Slimming World or Weight Watchers when I have been to those meetings in the past. But now it is actually achievable but will take time and patience and plodding along. Well this is what I keep telling myself!

Yes Im sorry. Logically I know three stones in five months is bloody wonderful. I was just working out that if I continue at a lb a week I’ll take six months to lose two stones, whereas the first two stones came off in two months. And with having so much ability to eat I sometimes wonder if it’s justified the money spent. But I have five pens paid for in the fridge, so I will be carrying on!

And you’re right @Kipperandarthur id be in awe of someone losing that much elsewhere. I have a friend on one of the other month WLI pages and she’s not reading the threads as much now because she’s finding the comparisons get her down a bit. We caught up for the first time in six months last week and we both look considerably slimmer, despite having a fair way to go.

Last time I lost a lot of weight and got to goal was in the 90s. I was in my 20s not 50s, and even then I had to work really hard on the exercise side to get the last stone. I did a lifeguard course, which was hard swimming, not just meandering up and down in breast stroke, and I was doing a lot of mountain biking, so lots of hills. I think I probably need to step the exercise up. It will balance the big portions!

Ps, I’ve read a few threads on Facebook where people have lost incredible amounts of weight in a few months, and it often turns out that they are only eating one meal a day or something and haven’t changed their lifestyle at all, so I wonder how they would ever get back to a normal life. I don’t want that, I want to be able to come off at the other end and try to live like a healthy person. Might be kidding myself, but that’s my goal.

Definitely better to do things slowly and nourish your body and mind while doing it. I think we are culturally raised to always be comparing ourselves and to find ourselves wanting when we should just be doing what is best for us - and that can be so very dangerous.

These drugs are amazing and I doubt any of us would still be going if we weren't on them and would have given up at the first or second stall, so even if all they are giving s is a reason to keep going, that makes them worth it - but they are also doing so much more than that (and I am sure that it is the reason why my weightloss is slow as the MJ has a lot of stuff to fix before my body will feel safe to let the weight go) and most of us couldn't have ever dreamed of losses of more than half a pound to a pound a week - and now we complain because we aren't seeing the weight fall off quicker.

1-2lbs a week is considered a healthy and sustainable weightloss. More than that risks damage, like gallstones and pancreatitis, malnutrition, muscle and bone loss. Slow is good!!

I was feeling a bit despondent at the weekend about how slowly the weight was coming off , so I looked back over the same period in 2024 and 2023.
Apart from the initial OMG “I can’t believe I’m STILL trying to reduce weight” , the figures speak for themselves .

10 May 2023 - 10 Nov 2023 : lost 12lbs
17 May 2024 - 15 Nov 2024 : lost 9.5lbs
9 May 2025 - 2 Nov 2025 : lost 1stone 12lbs.

The last time period also included a 7lbs gain whilst we were on holiday in Jun - July.
So I’m better hanging in there , despite the increase in cost and occasional random side effects.
Not that a “whoosh “ wouldn’t be welcome at some point, though !

Really reassuring chat today all! Enjoyed catching up with it!! Also been feeling despondent as a bit stuck also know it’s crazy and will pass!! Always nice to know we’re not alone in it and some great advice ! You’re a great bunch of losers 😉

Went to see Dara O'Briain this week and it was fabulous, but my mounjaro butt struggled with the theatre's chairs, goodness me. When we were walking back to the car I grumbled to dp, 'have I lost all the weight from my bum?' In the olden days when getting back from a show or a gig, we'd order this particular pizza from a takeaway near us. After Dara O'Briain, we got home and had a packet of quavers!

I love catching up with all these posts. You really are an encouraging lot, we all seem to have ups and downs which I find helpful. I only panic when I read about quicker loses. I have always lost slowly but I looked at my Shotsy app today and I have now lost 2 stones since starting in May. I have one more to go to get to 62kg. It states that my weekly average loss has been 0.5kg a week which was frustrating at the beginning but now I am ok with it. I feel I am eating so much more healthily without having to count calories, or stressing when I have a treat, or a week when I stay the same or even put 0.5kg on! This is a first for me as in the past I get so discouraged and fed up all the bad habits creep back in. I feel that this time I am going to keep going, get to goal, and then maintain using MJ until I can do it on my own. Thank you for all being here x

I think being on a weight loss injection, and doing all the 'right things' as per current medical knowledge, and not losing a bean, is giving me some sort of mental clarity and relief that I've never had before. I think we really want to believe that less calories in equals deficit, equals loss. Logic is predictable and comforting. Plus, the rhetoric is deafening: eat less, move more.

But we have the data. We have all the people that doesn't work for, and has never worked for. We (collectively, at a higher level) didn't want that data.

Me, as a data analyst and lover of spreadsheets, wow do I want that data. There must be so many patterns and root causes.

But for now, in the midst of trying to get healthy via Mounjaro, it's like participating in a mass scale scientific study that proves once and for all that what we thought we knew about calories in versus calories out is complete and utter bunkum.

There's so much shame around being overweight or god forbid, obese. I feel like we can reclaim ourselves. Some sort of baptism via WLI. We are clear evidence that our physiology as humans is way more complicated. I think we knew that anyway, but the gaslighting. The bullshit.

We're free. This is a completely new experience and we are seeing in real-time what the truth is. No shame. No bullshit.

You are absolutely right @DidILeaveTheGasOn it is just not as simple as control your calories and you’ll lose!
some many aspects and factors are involved in the process that we dont think about, that it is very easy to beat ourselves up when we slightly overeat.

Today was a day when before MJ i would have gone out of my way to the corner shop and bought a bag of crisps and a chocolate bar, maybe twice (3pm and 5.30pm). I did have a good breakfast and a good lunch but still my emotions would have had the better of me. Instead i didnt have anything and waited for dinner. Had a reasonable dinner but could have gone for “extra” bits.
all this to say that if i dont lose weight this week, it is absolutely fine! If i had not been on MJ i would have gained for sure!

Gosh and im craving a glass of wine… but not enough to open a bottle! It’s a win in my book!

@DidILeaveTheGasOn you’re spot on I was chatting to a consultant colleague recently who is also on it & both saying we almost feel vindicated , that it isn’t us being weak, there is a clinical imbalance within us that drives us to overeat and now there is this amazing medication that improves the balance for us.

it’s quite a shift in mindset

what’s interesting me this week is how powerful all these hormones are

post my holiday weigh in I was uber motivated had 2 great days and lost the 2lb.

then massively stressful couple of days and all of a sudden my body is like MJ… what’s that ?!?!

logically I haven’t eaten what I would have done pre MJ put have had much more than I would normally

cue the panic of this is it , it’s stopped working I’ll be back to where I was before I know it blah blah blah

so I’ve given myself a good talking to and I’m going to jab a day early tomorrow to give me a boost and aim for a zen like attitude despite the stress!!!!

roll on the weekend!!

Just checking in - I haven't been very present recently but have been catching up on all your news.

Life and Mounjaro got me down a bit - nothing serious - just a bit tired of always trying to lose weight?! 😕

Only a lb off this week...but as I haven't been to the loo for 4 days (tmi?!?) Doesn't seem bad!

Hope you're all okay on this rainy Friday!

Hi all, stopping by for the first time in a while because I just got to the 6 months mark and it's got me all in my feelings. I started 2 May and on 1 November I hit the incredible loss of 5 stones!! 32.6kg / 5st 2lb / 72lbs.

I've been reflecting on how scared I was to start MJ, and that in the end I did it quite impulsively so that I didn't have the chance to talk myself out of it. It's one of the best things I've ever done for myself (the other one being counselling) and I remember thinking beforehand that if I could lose 5 stone then my life would be transformed. It kind of is but it also isn't - I still have many, many stones to lose.

There's been some ups and downs but I've been approaching this with the mindset of changing my lifestyle, not going on a diet. I know that I, personally, need to stick with this new way of eating long-term. I know that diets work for a lot of people but I don't do well with rules - they make me rebel (you say I can't have chocolate, go ahead and watch me eat it!).

I added exercise at the beginning of August and, I can't believe I'm saying this, I actually really enjoy it. I've had to be careful about what I do because I have a bad knee (likely caused by so many years of morbid obesity) but anything in water is fine, weightlifting, HIIT, and aerobics classes where I can walk/step instead of jump about. Exercising has become important to me because I realised that it helps my mental health and makes sure that I don't lose muscle instead of fat. In fact, I've been gaining muscle and I'm on the cusp of my muscle mass being more than my body fat. I never knew that was even possible.

I've also been thinking about how other people see me. I don't really care that much, but I do wonder if I ever told anyone that I'd lost 5 stone if they'd believe me, because I'm still huge. Only my husband and mum know that I'm losing weight, and my mum doesn't even know about MJ. She can be a bit gossipy and took great delight in sharing with me that one of my brothers is on it. At that point I had a choice to tell her or not and I decided that I didn't want to get into it. But she did say that she could tell I'd lost weight and well done. Then followed it up with 'you used to have a shelf above your bottom but it's going away now'. A SHELF!!!!!

But that's enough of looking back, the end of the year is fast approaching and I'm hoping to hit 6 stone loss by 31st December. Just over 6 weeks away so it may not be possible but I like to have a target.

I really enjoy reading all of your updates and I'm so bloody pleased for you all. Even if you're frustrated about your progress, you're sticking with it and that will surely bring results. Just keep showing up for yourself, whatever that looks like, and you'll smash it.

Great to see you’re still with us, @SussexLass87 ! It’s a hard old slog at times isn’t it .
Just 1lb off for me also - had two poorly days this week when I ate nothing at all - so was hoping for more, to be honest 🙄.
Guess it bears out what @DidILeaveTheGasOn posted upthread , about the myth of less calories = more loss.
Don’t know what caused the nausea and shivering - not putting it down to MJ , as was a couple of days after jabbing and it’s the third week of 3.75 dose.
Feeling better today, just had brunch of poached eggs and grilled tomatoes instead of my usual Lidl protein shot breakfast.
Hoping changing some of my foods will boost my energy (and enthusiasm).
Wishing you all a great weekend - as ever, our battle cry is “ Onwards and
Downwards! “

Incredible loss @AlicesMum2025 - it’s so lovely to read how well people are doing. Even though we have been honest about our challenges and disappointments, we really are an incredible bunch of losers. It’s good to hear too about the impact of our success and what it means to us. Have a good weekend everyone.

Gosh @AlicesMum2025 that put a lump in my throat to read. So chuffed for you.
@ElsieJay Glad you're on the mend, hope that continues.

I've had the week 'off' this week, as it was my birthday and my son's birthday. I didn't jab and I've had some lovely meals this week and trips out etc. Stunned to encounter gnawing hunger two hours after eating, I wasn't like that before MJ or during so it freaked me out a bit. Hopefully that won't be what life after Mj is like because I'll titrate off and adjust. I blinkin' hope.