Mounjaro/Wegovy with >5 stone/30kg to lose - thread 11!

[MooBaggage]

New thread for anyone with more than 5 stone/30kg to lose. All very welcome, whichever part of the journey you are on.

We have newbies and those who have got to their targets and lots of us in between at various stages, all supporting each other along the way.

Nothing is off topic and progress photos always welcome, encouraging us all to keep going!

No discount codes please - there is a separate thread for that.

I have these silicone soup cubes and they make life so easy. I can just decide in the morning what I fancy for lunch that day and pop a portion into Tupperware to take to work.
https://amzn.eu/d/jgLuUKI

After all the festivities I have gained 4lbs. I didn’t overeat but I certainly consumed far too much carbs (bread, roasties, cakes, pies, pastries) and alcohol. So from hard achieved 84kg went to firm 86.

Family’s gone but my appetite is not.
I haven’t missed or postponed any jabs but definitely feel very different now.
Before, I didn’t feel much suppression but could be disciplined enough to eat within calorie limits and all the right foods (greek yoghurt/ lentils/ fish, chicken, eggs, prawns and veg).
And when the festive season started ( prob mid Nov) with the Xmas lunches, parties, meet ups the rules started to slowly relax until the last week of family Christmas festivities when they went out the window entirely (rules, not family😉).

Now, I have cravings and cannot easily deny myself anything. With family gone, I was still reaching for pudding and icecream yesterday and had bigger portions of everything throughout the day than I’d have liked. Couldn’t resist.
And with DC home until mid Jan and expecting lots of fancy food for NY and elaborate dinners in Jan I feel on shaky ground for myself.

I’m nowhere near my target and it makes me worry for the future/maintenance. How easy it is to put on weight. Not even exactly falling back into old habits (old habits would’ve seen me having far far more food).

So I think after 14 weeks on 2.5mg, I need to increase my MJ dose.
How do people take 3.75mg? (I don’t want to go to 5mg yet). I guess it would have to be from 5mg pen, right? I have only 2.5mg pens so perhaps the other option for now would be to jab every 5 days?
Cannot order a new pen as just collected the recent 2.5 one.

On the other hand, we’ve had a lovely Christmas, bit tiring but I don’t mind as I like cooking, baking and decorating. I love Christmas and wait the whole year for its unique cosy and warm feeling. If anything, it’s gone too quickly this year for me.

Consolation: still tons of alcohol left and a huge variety.

Hope you all have had a lovely time too♥️

I think you've done bloody well to be successful for so long on only 2.5mg, @SecondCircuit ! Let alone at this time of year. You also might find some of the gain is alcohol related water retention. ANY time I drink more than a glass or two it seems to take my body nearly a week to get back to normal. So don't be too hard on yourself.

I'm a big Christmas lover too. I look forward massively to tree day every year, and hate taking the decs down in January. Everything looks so grey! Far better to have those good memories and a little gain. And you've also acquired some insight into the psychological effect of cutting loose a bit which, like you say, will serve you well in the future.

You can jab twice to get 3.75 from a 2.5 pen if you wanted. One full dose then one 30 clicks. I'm not sure you'd even need to change the needle, but others might have an opinion on that.

It's jab day for me and my weight starts with an 11! It's only by 1/4lb and I know NYE will fuck it up again (see above about alcohol) but I'm using @MooBaggage 's principal of whatever my lowest weight in a week is, that's what I'm going with. My BMI is now 0.5 above the top end of healthy!

Last stats of 2025. After 40 weeks, currently on 10mg.

SW 17st 4
CW 11st 13.75
GW 11-12st

@SecondCircuit I agree it'll be the alcohol - it's a bugger for adding a couple of lbs on to my weight for the following few days. Really flush out with water over the next few days if you can - at least 3 x litres a day will do it!

I also agree you've done brilliantly on 2.5mg! You can keep using your 2.5mg pen by doing your usual jab and then another jab counting 30 x clicks to make the 3.75mg. Once the pen stops turning you'll need to use separate needles, which you can buy via online pharmacies - I can find a link if you don't already have some. Well done though and don't be disheartened about the weight gain - it's definitely temporary and won't be fat fat - just holiday craziness which you can get rid of, no doubt at all.

I've lost 1lb (had a heavy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but have been positively saintly since then - because I couldn't cope with more than 2 days of food/drink!), so am pleasingly into the next stone down too - hurrah!

13.1.25 SW 20st 3lbs BMI 43
29.12.25 CW 13st 13lbs BMI 29.6

I wanted to be in the 13 stones for my holiday, coming up on Jan 10th, so am really chuffed to have made it.

Next stop - my initial 'final' target I set myself, which is 13st 10lbs. I thought that would be the end of my journey - now I know it's just a stepping stone on my way to a healthy BMI - but will be a real moment for me when it happens, as it will be the first weight target I will have ever actually met! 😀

Thank you @GiveMeWordGames and @MooBaggage for encouraging words and advice on 3.75mg. I have spare needles and will do second jab of 30 clicks next time.

Regarding alcohol, it must be true (sigh😫) but I’m still in the mood for it so yes to water but no farewell yet to bubbly cocktails and port and cognac😁😁…

Well done ladies- 11st is dreamland @GiveMeWordGames and so is BMI below 30 @MooBaggage 👌🌟

Hi, @SecondCircuit
I moved up to 3.75 a couple of weeks ago from a 2.5mg pen as described. 3.75 felt a bit too much for me, so I've settled into taking 3mg at a time from a 5mg pen

@UnimaginableWindBird do you mind me asking in what way 3.75mg felt too much for you? Was it feeling nauseous/ acidic? Or unpleasant in other way?

I’m also a bit cautious, though feel it’s really time for me to go up from 2.5.

I’ve been reading with interest everyone’s Christmas updates, and thinking how useful this group is for people who get it.

This is my first Mounjaro Christmas (started January last year) and, up to yesterday, it’s been bliss and wondering, once again, if this is how people without my food issues approach Christmas… I enjoyed Christmas food and drink, but didn’t do my usual blow out, and was mercifully free of the food noise and self loathing that comes after. Somehow I managed to lose 1.5kg over Christmas week (but had been stuck for a month or so and was due a “whoosh”) and felt amazing. All good.

But I seem to be struggling to “stop” - I’m still with the grazing on cheese and chocolates. In itself not an issue, and miles better than previous years (e.g. today was a solid breakfast, then mine pie with coffee and a few chocolates with a board game), but the “narrative” in my head seems to be back with vengeance - what I’m “allowed”, what treat food is still to be eaten etc etc etc etc.

I don’t know what’s changed since Christmas Eve/day/Boxing Day? Maybe that I “should” be back on track now (though arguably never really “off” track)? But I want to be able to enjoy the rest of the Christmas period without the obsession creeping back in.

Any insights from wise people???

@SecondCircuit I didn't feel all that different on 3.75, but then I overdid it on fatty food once evening and had stomach pains bad enough that I got no sleep and was on the phone to 111, and then I lost over 3lb that week and the next. The combination of the two were enough to make me think that I should probably be taking a bit less, as I am aiming for around 1.5-2lb a week, so I jammed 3mg this week, which seems to be going well so far.

I had a big whoosh just before xmas. Have definitely overindulged this last week, but not to excess. Weighed myself Boxing Day (jab day) and was apparently 8lbs up. I put this down to salty foods and wine.
weighed again yesterday and I’m up 3lbs now compared to my whoosh. I usually weigh on a Tuesday though so not worried. I can live with a 3lbs gain if that’s what it stays at.

Pre MJ I would have just thrown myself off the wagon, lol. Now, thanks mostly to you guys on the WLI board, I know the reasons and that any gain will sort itself out in the long run. Just trust the process.

I was on Mounjaro over Christmas last year and had the same experience many of you describe. A week or two of treats/snacking/UPF/sugar/disrupted routines and the volume of the food noise and cravings came right back, with a vengeance.

I challenged myself, once back at work, to get back into my routine for a couple of weeks before considering upping my dose and it worked, the noise eased again, and by the end of January everything clicked back into place. I didn't need to increase dose. It is something I do now whenever I feel effects are waning.

It is worth a try, especially since the price hikes. Keep the dose rises for when you really need them rather than to compensate for being out of routine for a week or so.

Someone on here or another thread - I don't remember - once used the phrase "carbs call to carbs" . I've definitely noticed after I have a couple of chocs, or a dessert, that the urge to have just one more/a second helping/more sweet stuff later, is stronger. A few sequential days of indulgence and being out of routine and it makes sense that our satiety and control is a bit wonky.

Thank you @UnimaginableWindBird for sharing your experience. I’ll take a note of that.

Having read your updates it looks like we all have overindulged at some point over Christmas😋 which is fine as it is such a special time. So no wise advice @Questions1234 I’m afraid. We need to let go a bit now and then hope that once back at work/routine/daily grind and devoid of delicacies everything will slowly fall back into place.

I do my weigh ins at the gym but realised when I went today that I hadn't been to the gym since 4 December! Normally I go at least twice a week but between work and Christmas stuff at the kids schools I had no time. So the bad news is that I seem to have gained 2kg in those 3.5 weeks. I guess it could be a lot worse. I am confident that I can get back on track and we have had a wonderful time.

Looking back on.the 11 months since I started the school hols at Easter and Summer resulted in plateaus and now Christmas has been a gain. It is certainly easier to stick to better eating choices and my exercise regime during term time and I have more respite from DS's challenging behaviours.

I was wondering if any of you could recommend any online dance type exercise classes. I have been subscribing to a Zumba one for a while which I enjoy but they're hiking up their prices so I shall need to shop around.

Whenever I’ve had a period of eating too many carbs, I have the same thing where I find it difficult to stop. What I have found works is to allow myself 3 days of not worrying about calories, but being strict about low carb. So I eat a lot more than a normal MJ day but I make it high protein. I eat boiled eggs, chunks of cheese, beef jerky or slices of cold deli meats, I have lots of green veg with it so I’m getting fibre without going high carb and I drink loads of water, or hot sugar free squash. I always find that after that 3 days my appetite decreases and I can drop back to my calorie allowance.

@InfoSecInTheCity I really like that idea - I also find that if I have carbs I immediately want more and I don't feel full. Filling up on protein makes sense and the 3 day buffer sounds really good because it boundaries it.

Discovered a new favourite treat food and will need to be a bit careful to not turn this into all I eat! There’s a natural food shop in town called Grape Tree and they sell freeze dried fruit by a company called Pimlico. In that range are freeze dried peaches, they are big wedges of peach freeze dried so you get this amazing crispness that’s missing in so many diet options but still intensely peachy and delicious. They also do wedges of apple which are also fantastic intensely green apple flavour like Granny Smiths.

Ooh, there's a Grape Tree in my town - I've bought stuff like nuts and sour cherry juice from there.

I LOVE freeze dried raspberries and other berries, and buy them separately to add to granola because so few brands include them. Or if they do they ruin it with gacky raisins. 😝

Great to read your updates and a comforting read to hear about others also worrying they broken the food noise relief. I’ve been here before so do know getting back on it and things will calm.
i have taken a complete break of thought about it, in part to observe my behaviour. Not being on this forum I think has made me less accountable about my choices.
i have also not weighted myself which is a red flag for me.

part of that is knowing. Few bigger celebration meals, wine and general low level snack/treats.
i mean no where near to what I would have eaten last year, but not acceptable going forwards.

like before, a delayed period also puts me back. I avoid weighing as know I hold more weight until period gone. Peri or stress must have got to me as my cycle is now day 44 (11 days late) and felt like PMS for the last 10days!

Anyway, I am having a few drinks new year and plan to start improving snacking and choices 1st and second Jan so by Friday night (jab day) I’m back on it again.

good luck ladies and happy new year

Forgot how bad acid reflux can be, overdid it last night, last of the Christmas chocolate desserts, couple of glasses of wine and too many crisps too late at night, never got to bed until 3am. Now suffering - trying to sit upright for last 40 minutes until gaviscon kicks in and not freeze to death as heating not on yet. 🥶

Glad of my size 24 dressing gown that wraps around size 14-16 me like a big blanket now!

Definitely back to routine starting tomorrow, not doing this again!

@Reginaphalangeeeee nice to see you! Good you've got a getting-back-on-track plan - I suppose the difference for all of us now is we know it's possible to go a bit bonkers but then pull it back, unlike every other time on previous diets.

I'm not in the NYE mood at all at the moment - have been working this week and there are bits of stuff going on at home (e.g. sad ex-partner and dying cat 😔) that is making me quite low. I keep wondering whether to go back to my usual dose of Sertraline - I halved it over a couple of months in the Autumn and thought I was OK, but keep having low patches - will keep thinking about it!

So, the plan is for a nice meal at home with the boyf, probably with a couple of G&Ts and very likely be asleep by midnight!

But overall, I'm very grateful for 2025 - I started MJ on 13th Jan so have nearly completed my year and my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. Roll on 2026 and getting to 'healthy' BMI!

Keep going losers!! 😬💪

Hang in there @MooBaggage and sorry about your cat and feeling low! I am officially the grinch that cancelled Xmas. I was meant to be hosting family and friends and came down with a sore throat and cough bug and cancelled the whole thing 2 days out. Everyone coped of course but I now want a refund on my xmas - I haven't had a single roastie. My freezer is full of xmas frozen food sigh. Still no weight on and I am now feeling better hooray!

One very funny thing happened though. I gave my 18 year old son a stereo for xmas. It didn't work, so persuaded John Lewis to provide a replacement. We went to pick it up yesterday and were handed 2 parcels. One obviously a stereo and another mystery box. When we got home the stereo worked my to the recipient's joy, and the mystery box ..... a wooden scallop edged tea tray!!! Err why? Was that why the first stereo didn't work - it needed the tray in the house first? I am tempted to give it to a charity shop but will the stereo then die? Who knows, but an amusing mystery!!

Happy NY when it comes to everyone and onwards and downwards!

xxx

Hello! Can I join you please? Finally took the plunge and have ordered my first Wegovy pen (trying it first as it's so much cheaper). I hadn't weighed myself in year so got what I really horrible shock when I got on the scales... let's just say I definitely have more than 30 kilos to lose! Feeling a bit wobbly but so relieved to be taking this step.

Welcome @YellowStockings ! We've all had/have significant amounts of weight to lose, so we get you.

If you can cope, definitely measure yourself as well as weighing yourself and write it down somewhere - you'll be glad in a few months' time that you've done it when you see the inches going down - and sometimes your weight might get stuck, but your measurements will change. I didn't do my measurements until 4 months in and I really wish I had now!

Other top tips - water, water, water... try to drink at least 2 x litres a day - I aim for 3 x litres and mostly make it! Also, lots of protein to keep you feeling full and please shout if you have any queries - there is so much experience on this thread, which I have benefitted from so much over the past 12 months 😊👍