September 25 starters thread2 - gliding into autumn

[outofofficeagain]

We go (vy) again …

Asda have information about this on the app (I'm with them too). Also maintenance doses. The answer is yes they will keep prescribing.

They have an app?! 🏃‍♀️

Agreed. I spent one day in London and ate two meals partly consisting of white rice. The cravings I got the next day! It's rather alarming how soon these creep back as soon as you deviate from cutting sugar and also depressing that this is certainly something I for one am always going to have to watch out for now. O guess in future there will always be a weighing up exercise as to 'if I eat that cake, am I willing to take the hit as to how it will make me feel afterwards?' I'm hoping that 9x out of 10 it won't - but I do like to think that I can go back to a VERY occasional treat once I'm at target without destabilising everything I've done.

@jigsawmeup - I think it really is possible to continue without the WLI. This eejit here thought I was taking Wygovy for weeks, then realised I was only turning the pen to the priming dose! In fact, I'd injected pretty much nothing. So I paused my prescription and hoped people wouldn't mind if I stayed on the threads, as they are really helping me.

The loss did slow down after 6 weeks. I'm now on Week 10 and 16 lbs down. I might be losing more by now if I were on the WLI. But I'm still losing. And I'm realising that a high protein diet is its own natural appetite suppressant and I feel fuller for longer on far less food. I also have no 'food noise', and I again put that down to the effect of the drug I wasn't taking! What I really think's going on is that my blood sugar levels have stabilised and, as I'm not eating sugar, my body isn't constantly driving me to eat more sugar, so the cravings are gone and the food chatter is quiet. Sugar really is the most addictive substance - as also are crisps (for me).

A good calorie deficit as well as cutting out sugar and UPFs may sound like a really strict, unsustainable regime, but I'm not feeling this. It feels like a changed, healthier lifestyle rather than a diet - and I do have the occasional sauces which I know contain some sugar. I'm also sure I can taste my food better than I did before and am therefore enjoying it more - probably because my taste buds are no longer overtuned to processed sugar and refined carbohydrates.

It IS doable without - for how long I don't know, but so far, so good.

@Chopsy123 @SoUncertain i think you were both right about carbs/fatty food hangover! The suppression has returned after 48 hours and my level of hunger is similar what it used to be ahead of breakfast/lunch/dinner. I will take this as a learning curve for future weekends away in case this is how my body reacts. I tracked the calories as best as I could but it’s difficult to be accurate when you don’t know how the takeaways / restaurants meals have been cooked.

Week 6 weigh in today- where is the time going?! Hit the 1 stone milestone 🎉

W1: 5.5 lb

W2: 1.5lb.

W3: 3lb.

W4: 2lb.

W5: 1.5lb
W6: 1.5lb

Total loss: 1 stone 1lb

Interesting observation but about 6/7 years ago I was on weight watchers and got to this weight. I still have the progress photo and one thing I’ve noticed this time is how much more fat I have around my middle. Gotta love perimenopause for this!

I'm not entirely sure i have any suppression at all these days 😅

i chose to stay on 2.5 for another month as i'm still losing but I get a rumbly stomach so often! Will power is being tested 🫠

i know i should stay on 2.5 as long as possible but right now it's like i'm just doing a normal diet where i think about food all the time 😫

Tried one of the myprotein meals from Iceland yesterday and it was quite nice. Massively upped my protein.

I’m off to the pharmacy this morning for my monthly check in and to buy my new pen. I’m currently on 5mg, been taking Mounjaro for 8 weeks so far and am thinking about what dose to have next. I think I’d prefer to stay on 5mg as I only started to feel any benefits ( food suppression mainly) this week. I still get hungry at times but not too often and I find it easy to cope with, have a drink of water and ignore the pangs. I’ve had awful side effects until this week when all I’ve had is chronic wind for a couple of days. My sister, who was using Mounjaro until a month or so thinks I need to move up as I’m obviously more resistant to the benefits than some people and need a stronger dose to help lose more weight. I really don’t want the side effects I might get again!

She is supporting me really well though and has my best interests at heart. I lost almost two stone over the summer through dieting but started WLIs 2 months ago to increase weight loss in order to have knee replacement surgery on both knees. She helps me a lot and comes with me to appointments, does some shopping or jobs around the house that I can’t do on my own so I know she only wants the best for me.

So I will have a chat with the pharmacist and take his advice.

Weigh in day tomorrow!

I'm back from my all-inclusive and have put on 2lb. Very happy with this and managed to eat healthily while I was there - lots of protein and veg. I think it was probably the booze which has upped my weight (a couple of drinks a night) and just generally eating more than normal.

Have increased to a 3.75 dose now I'm back and so far no real side effects (although I think it has sorted out my constipation).

My plan is to stay on 3.75 for 2 weeks and up if necessary, or stick with 3.75 until my next pen.

Well done everyone. It's about this time trying to lose weight that motivation definitely leaves me - so I think this might be where WLI really do kick in.

Split Dosing or increase your next Dose size?

Split Dosing is where you take your normal ( for you) dose of mounjaro every 5 days, rather than once a week. I’ve read a few anecdotal accounts of people finding this more effective than going up to the next dose when they’re getting zero suppression after 5 days.

You need to FF the video to over halfway where he explains the process.

I’m wondering if Mounjaro is just for appetite suppression so you eat fewer calories and thereby lose weight or does it actually do something extra to dissolve the fat and that’s why some people are losing weight more quickly?

Any thoughts? 🤔

I think it’s just appetite suppression - but I suppose it depends how much and what you were eating before, age, body composition etc.

I’m happy with the suppression wearing off. I feel like it’s good practice and I can manage for a day or two rather than feeling ‘oh god I’m going to be hungry forever!’ without them.

Having said that, not feeling too much suppression on 3.75 so far (since this morning).

Why should you stay on 2.5mg as long as possible? It’s not actually a therapeutic dose so if you’re not getting any suppression then that would feel like money down the drain to me, if you’re paying all that money and getting no suppression. 3.75mg felt like a lot more suppression to me than 2.5mg.

Some people never leave 2.5 which i know is not how it's designed to be used but proves you can still get results 🤷🏼‍♀️

I will go up to 3.75 eventually but I lost 3lb last week on top of previous weeks of 2lb losses. My losses haven't slowed down yet so definitely not money down the pan. In my eyes, i'd be silly to move up when i'm still losing significantly.

I've got 3 more doses of 2.5 plus a golden dose. That will mean i did 13 weeks on 2.5

I've been struggling with food noise a LOT this week. On reflection, I think I should have moved up to 5mg last dose, as it was creeping in then. Last time I felt that, I was on 2.5 and moved up to 3.75. It's jab day today, so I'll be doing 5mg for the first time - definitely want to do that when I don't have work tomorrow too! I don't really seem to have suppression so much either: I can easily finish meals at the moment.

I'm definitely eating more, half term doesn't help, but still sticking to a deficit (I try to stick to 1500cals. As a person over 100kg, that is deficit enough for now). I'm not convinced the scales are moving though so obviously it's not enough!

That said, I am feeling much more mobile, so hoping to go for a solo swim tomorrow. Being able to get back to moving around has had such a positive impact on my attitude to everything. Even if I did cave into some popcorn whilst watching Traitors last night... it's a good fibre source, right??

@Chopsy123 For me it's the appetite suppression and I am injecting every 6 days, instead of moving up a dose, as it's still working at 2.5mg but I get hungry by day 5.
There's loads out there about other benefits, particularly anti-inflammatory properties of WLIs. Many people who struggle to lose much weight at all on the same calories and exercise before starting WLIs (often over 40s with high cortisol levels), see breakthroughs on their weight loss journey once they start a WLI.

I'm on a similar path to you. I've just started my 3rd pen of 2.5, having done the golden doses from the two previous pens, so I've taken my 11th dose this week. I'm feeling pretty hungry, but cravings are definitely managed, and I'm still happy with the losses at the moment. I won't go up a dose until the losses stall, even if I feel like suppression isn't particularly high. I'll probably order another 2.5 for my 4th pen.

I tend to weigh myself every couple of weeks. At last weigh-in, nearly two weeks ago, I'd lost 1st, 8lbs.

I think its helpful in the long run to feel a bit of hunger. It's not all the time but definitely different to when I first started the pen and would forget to eat 😅

i've got a 5 pen in the fridge but may order another 2.5 at the end of this pen of i'm still losing, whole month to decide!

Well done on your losses so far 🤗

I agree with you - a bit of hunger is definitely important. I've gone past a bit and feel like I've not had any MJ at all this week. 😕The lack of scale movement is slightly concerning too (I've peeked mid week this week... Probably not helpful)!

I'd definitely stay on the longest effective dose as long as possible though! I've done 10 weeks in total, and not gone over 3.75mg so I think that's pretty good.

Super impressed with how many of you have stuck at 2.5 with such great results. Well done to you.

My partner is currently sat opposite me eating a lovely victoria sponge cake and although I'd love to steal a slice from his plate, i'm actually full from my stew! I'll have my protein mousse in a bit instead haha.

Definitely harder work but i'm doing my next jab tomorrow night 🙌 weigh in day tomorrow morning and I feel like this might be my first week of maintaining rather than losing. Changed the wholemeal wraps I was eating to white protein rolls and I just feel more bloated. Once I start slowing down i'll jump up to 3.75. How have your side effects been?

@Ihateslugs how did it go with the pharmacist?

The Asda pharmacy app yeah. I only use it for reordering

Obviously it’s totally up to you and it’s great you’ve had such good losses.

It just sounded like you weren’t really getting any effects at all from the MJ when you said you were hungry all the time and it now felt like a normal diet/ needing to use lots of willpower. I agree, I’m not aiming for complete suppression by any means/ happy to still feel hungry and I’m in no hurry to go up from 3.75mg, which is still very effective for me…. but for me it does feel a lot easier/ different to a normal diet.

Anyway it just sounded very hard work from your post what you’re going through with the hunger but all kudos to you if you’re making it work!

I need to remember this myself! Nibbled some kid Halloween treats and wanted to keep munching all day!

I have seen some stories about people religiously tracking calories and losing more on the same calories on WLIs. I expect studies are being/will be done on this.

It will definitely be easier once i've jumped up, i'm happy to finish this pen for now though and see where i'm at in a few weeks. Hopefully this saves me some money in the long run 😅

Weigh in day today! Another 2lb down 🥳

SW: 12st 9
CW: 10st 4
Total loss : 2st 5 / 33lb

My BMI is now 26.5 so getting closer to normal 🙌

I'll take my 10th jab of 2.5 tonight.