Nov 25 starters - thread 2 - the one where we don’t eat everything in sight this Christmas!

[Springbaby2023]

Hi everyone, starting a second thread as the other one is almost full. We made it through month one, now here’s to a happy, healthy and lighter 2026!

Thats amazing. Its really hard when you're short also as people think oh you're only a 12 or a 14 so thats not overweight, but for shorter people it generally is, and in a lot of cases it is obese. It also shows so much IMO. I definitely dont carry weight well.

My BMI is 24.1 now, I am definitely more comfortable closer to 22/23 but because I have been (albeit intermittently) weight training for the last year my shape looks better than the last time I was 10 stone so I am happier than I was. I think I have lost it differently.

I really want to keep going for another stone. I just hope now I have dropped back down to 2.5 and this virus has all but gone it will stop again. It was fine on 3.75 for 3 weeks but awful after that.

On the instructions it does say to vary more than just one side to another, however I have found just changing from left to right is fine. Sometimes it being in the fridge makes a difference?

@HotTagine I’ve not found it more painful but I do keep getting reactions at the injection site now which I didn’t initially.

It seems those of us that are bigger are losing slower, I wonder whether heavier people need a stronger dose for it to be effective?

@SexyFrenchDepression You’re exactly right, I went down to 10st after travelling and I looked ill (and it also wasn’t maintainable for me). I can vividly remember being weighed as a child and someone being shocked at how heavy I was as I didn’t look that heavy - I think that’s one reason I’ve always been paranoid about it. Now I’m trying to go less off the number on the scales / BMI and more how healthy I feel so if I get to a weight I feel healthy and maintainable I’ll stop regardless of BMI. The world would be a dull place if we all looked the same.

@Springbaby2023 a little of doctors are now using waist/height ratio as a better indicator as often more pear shaped people hage higher BMIs but very little visceral fat round their organs. I think for anyone with a heavier frame but less fat this is a good tool to use also.

www.nhs.uk/health-assessment-tools/calculate-your-waist-to-height-ratio

@Springbaby2023 i think you’re right re needing a higher dose the larger you are, I’m finding the 5mg is wearing off earlier in the week now too. Hopefully as we shrink (albeit slowly) we can taper back down the doses too, though it will be expensive unfortunately.

I have been moving the injection site around my stomach each time, maybe I’ll try my thigh next time.

@Springbaby2023 I am very heavy and have lost 2st 10lbs in just over 7 weeks on 2.5/3.75mg. I think it probably just varies from person to person.

I have a tiny skeleton and my smart scales tell me that without a scrap of fat on me I would be 7st 7. At nearly 13 stone at the beginning of last year that was a whopping amount of fat to be carrying even if my BMI wasn’t “that” bad. Before kids I looked great at 8st 7 but I think it would be pushing it to try and get that low as I’m pushing 50 now

I would love to get back to 8st9 just to see what its like again but I think 9-9.5st will be sensible and hopefully maintainable.

I have wondered about the reasons why it works at low doses for some and not others. It would make sense if it was those having more weight to lose needing more but I know of a couple of people in RL also who have over 5 stone to lose and have stayed on either 2.5 or 5mg.

Perhaps it is to do with the reason people are overweight. If it is a deficiency to do with insulin maybe those people need less as it corrects that on a low dose, and those who struggle more with appetite suppression/eating past fullness then a bigger dose is required. That sounds too simplistic though as there are a million reasons in between I guess. I dont know what it is for me, I definitely ate past being full before MJ but thats not to say I dont have an insulin issue also which means a low dose works for me.

@SexyFrenchDepression Also could be true - I definitely have psychological reasons for over eating in that I see it as a reward / treat / dopamine hit, and I do eat past the point of fullness. For me I’m really hoping that being on MJ can help me into healthier eating habits as well regardless of just the weight loss.

Oh, I didn't think you were losing slowly. I thought I was the only one in this cohort.

To be fair, my scales are telling me that the 10lb loss is a 4% reduction in body fat. I was pleased to see that.

@SexyFrenchDepression that's good if you feel you can tell people. I could tell the one friend who I know is on it but unfortunately, I think she might tell other friends or family not to be malicious, but I can just imagine her saying it by mistake or something

Well, I took it again tonight - I can't really feel the injection so I always wonder if I've taken it correctly and then I start to feel tired and get a funny metallic taste in my mouth so I know I've done it correctly

I took 2.5 this time

@Fifiellz feel sorry for your MIL. I will definitely not go higher than 2.5 again. I do keep track of how I was feeling and it was definitely worse on a higher dose

it will be tomorrow and Saturday that feel the worst, but we are not going anywhere till Sunday. Well, I hope not, I might get called into the office tomorrow.

@RoundandSad the friends who know weren't supposed to know, my one friend who knew told them when we were out drinking by accident. They were all lovely though. I would still worry about some people knowing, a couple of friends who have a huge opinion on everything I would be concerned about. I know I shouldn't really care, literally no one other than me should care how I lose weight really.

No one on here has really mentioned the weird taste, I have been trying to figure out what it is but I am sure it must be the jabs. I can't even explain it but its there for the majority of the week. I am not sure if its part of the nausea or something separate.

@SexyFrenchDepression I have the funny taste in my mouth the first few days even if I don't have any nausea

So, I don't think it's connected. I get it within an hour of jabbing.

@RoundandSad slow loser here too, 10.5 lb down, 5% reduction in body fat. Only hubby knows I’m on the jabs.

Comfortable with the loss so far but hope to see a bit more over the next month, have been slowly ramping up the exercise and this week will be my first full week of 4 x workouts, still need to add in some strength training but dreading it to be honest, I find it really boring and prefer to be doing something more active.

Yesterday i was 13lbs down in 8 weeks. To be honest I was hoping for more - think I was targeting 2lbs per week but the usual comment is true that everyone is different and loses at different rates. I jabbed 5mg this week and will continue on that as currently not feeling as awful as I was expecting (that will now change as I typed that!!) Well done to everyone with their losses - big or small!

Jab day today and I’m so relieved. The food noise is back - I even dreamt about food last night!! I went down to 45 clicks of the 7.5mg pen last week as I thought 7.5 was too much (it completely removed my appetite) but I think maybe that was my body just adjusting to it. I think I’ll go back to 7.5 today!

I am worried about this also, I dropped down last week but as I had a sinus infection I didnt feel hungry anyway. Its only day 2 today and I definitely feel hungrier than normal. I don't really fancy any food though as I still seem to have that weird anxious feeling you get when you are worried about an event or something. Hopefully I'll manage it ok and at end of the day I can jab a day early if desperate.

After stalling for 2-3 weeks over Christmas, I’m suddenly dropping weight daily. I’m 21lb down now. Almost 10% of my starting weight lost.

I hope that the people who feel like their losses have been slow get to experience some whooshes soon.

Even if you don’t though, in six months if you lose a 1lb every week, you’d still be almost 2 stone down. And if you’re anything like me, if you aren’t taking the jab, you might be a stone heavier in that time.

Thats fantastic @TaffyTabby. Any loss or even maintenance around Nov-Jan is always great as a lot of people just put on so much weight so to be losing 10% in that time is amazing.

Slowly ticking along with 0.75kg loss since I weighed 12 days ago - it seems to be slowing now and I’m also having a lot more hunger whereas the last 8 weeks I’ve been satisfied having 2 meals a day and not feeling hunger - obviously not a sustainable state to be in but I’ll have to move up to 5mg soon, I am starting my 3rd 2.5mg pen today as last week things seemed fine, I was still having a lot of suppression. Obviously will see how the next few weeks go now!
Im finally noticing a difference in my clothes which is nice, my work scrubs are not angry at the seams any more and my jeans are fitting much more comfortably.
Currently sitting at exactly 10kg down and another 9/10kg to go

@SexyFrenchDepression I always carry weight around my middle so this isn’t much better for me than BMI but it’s just made me think to do my measurements, I’ve lost four inches from around my waist in less than two months. If I lose another four inches then I’ll no longer be in the highest risk category. Still in the increasing category but that’s got to be better for my overall health right!!

Well done @TaffyTabby thats great and reassuring to hear, hoping for a whoosh here too!

4 inches is amazing though and will have fantastic health benefits. I wish I had done my measurements properly. My PT did them but not in the places I would, he was for specifically body fat calculations. I have lost 5.1" off my waist and 4.7" off my hips. He doesnt measure round the fattest part though (my tummy) and I would have been interested to see what that was.

To get to a BMI of around 22 I need to lose another stone however according to my body fat chart I need to lose around 16lb just to get into the healthy range as apparently my body fat is still obese. This shows that I really need to tone up I guess. My body fat was 42.1% and is now 34% so its a fair bit down but clearly not enough even though my BMI is healthy.

@SexyFrenchDepression wow that’s really interesting! How does the body fat chart work? I’ve not lost any inches from my legs or arms but I don’t mind that as they’re fairly muscular so it feels like I’m losing the inches in the right places at least, two off my chest too.

@Springbaby2023 its this sort of thing https://www.calculator.net/body-fat-calculator.html so neck, waist, hips but they seem to measurement not exactly where I would measure my waist and hips, I was always told round belly button for waist, then biggest part for hips but its not quite there.